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THE  HISTORY 

OF  THE  STATE  OF 

RHODE  ISLAND 

AND 

PROVIDENCE  PLANTATIONS 


BT 

THOMAS  WILLIAMS  BICKNELL,  LL.D. 

Author  of  The  History  of  Barrlngton;  The  Story  of  Dr.  John  Clarke; 
etc.,  etc.  Member  of  the  American  Historical  Association;  President 
of  the   Rhode   Island   Citizens'   Historical  Association. 


ASSISTED    BY    AN   ABUE   BOARD    OF    ADVISORS 


VOLUME    II. 


NEW  YORK 

THE  AMERICAN  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY,  INC.. 

1920 


COPYRIGHT,    1920 
THE    AMERICAN    HISTOUICAL,   SOCIETY,    INC. 


THE  HISTORY 


OP  THE 


STATE  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 


AND 


PROVIDENCE  PLANTATIONS 


CHAPTER  XXIV 


THE  ROYAL  CHARTER  OF  1663,  THE  FINAL  GUAR- 
ANTY OF  CIVIL  AND  RELIGIOUS  FREEDOM  IN 
AMERICA. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE  ROYAL  CHARTER  OF  1663,  THE  FINAL  GUARANTY  OF 

CIVIL  AND  RELIGIOUS  FREEDOM  IN  AMERICA. 

Great  men  and  tlieir  deeds  and  great  facts  of  history  are  liable  to  lie 
bedded  in  the  soil  of  forget  fulness  until  some  resurrective  force  raises 
men  and  facts  to  the  light  and  life  of  honest  and  honorable  recognition. 
Such  century  plants  survive  ordinary  human  achievement  and  in  time 
find  their  permanent  place  in  the  orders  of  social  and  civil  life.  These 
principles  apply  to  the  Royal  Charter  of  1663  and  its  author  and  pro- 
curer, Dr.  John  Clarke  of  Aquidneck. 

The  charter  of  Rhode  Island  of  1663  has  been  universally  recognized 
as  the  most  liberal  state  paper  ever  issued  by  the  English  Crown.  It  is 
remarkable  in  several  particulars,  one  of  which  is  that  it  is  a  confirmation 
of  the  Declaration  of  Breda.  The  manifesto  issued  from  Breda,  in  the 
Netherlands,  April,  1660,  by  Charles  the  Second,  in  view  of  his  assuming 
the  English  throne.  In  it  he  proclaimed  a  general  amnesty  for  political 
enemies  and  oflfenders  and  an  assurance  of  religious  freedom  for  all  the 
people  of  the  realm. 

We  do  declare  a  Liberty  to  tender  consciences :  and  that  no  Man 
shall  be  disquieted,  or  called  in  question,  for  differences  of  opinion  in 
matters  of  religion  which  do  not  disturb  the  peace  of  the  kingdom ;  and 
that  we  shall  be  ready  to  consent  to  such  an  act  of  Parliament,  as,  upon 
mature  deliberation,  shall  be  oflfered  to  us,  for  the  full  granting  that 
indulgence. 

Charles  II,  Rex. 

Still  further  it  gives  Royal  sanction  to  the  foundation  principles  of 
the  Aquidneck  towns.  Yet  more,  its  inner  meanings,  its  scope  and  its 
historic  references  establish  the  authorship  in  Dr.  John  Clarke  of  Rhode 
Island  Colony.  Of  all  the  acts  of  his  distinguished  career,  the  author- 
ship and  procuring  the  Royal  Charter  are  the  greatest. 

I  have  in  mind  to  show  that  the  principles  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty  as  set  forth  in  the  democratic  constitutions  of  the  several  States 
of  our  Republic  and  in  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  were  clearly 
enunciated,  set  forth  and  solemnly  enacted  in  the  Royal  Charter,  given  to 
the  colony  of  Rhode  Island  by  King  Charles  the  Second,  July  8,  1663. 
In  other  words,  I  propose  to  show  that  the  rights,  privileges  and  prerog- 
atives of  a  free  commonwealth,  under  modern  constitutional  enactments, 
inhered  in  and  were  guaranteed  by  that  charter,  and  that  the  Colony  of 


430  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

Rhode  Island  was  to  all  intents  and  purposes  de  jure,  a  free  and  inde- 
pendent republic,  under  a  strict  construction  of  constitutional  jurispru- 
dence, from  the  8th  of  July,  1663. 

A  few  important  facts  of  Rhode  Island  history  in  review,  will  preface 
my  story. 

In  the  year  1636,  Roger  Williams,  banished  from  Massachusetts  Bay 
Colony,  with  a  few  companions,  made  a  Plantation  on  the  banks  of  the 
Moshassuck,  calling  it  Providence,  and  later  made  territorial  purchase  of 
the  Narragansetts,  styling  it  Providence  Plantations.  In  1638,  William 
Coddington  and  others,  likewise  banished  from  Massachusetts  Bay  Col- 
ony, planted  at  Portsmouth,  and,  in  1639,  Coddington  with  John  Clarke 
and  others  planted  a  town  on  the  south  end  of  Aquidneck,  calling  it 
Newport,  and  the  territorial  possessions,  acquired  of  the  Narragansetts, 
Rhode  Island.  In  1644,  Samuel  Gorton  and  ten  others,  having  enjoyed 
a  double  banishment  from  Plymouth  Colony  and  Rhode  Island  Colony, 
purchased  Shawomet,  or  Warwick,  of  the  Narragansetts,  and  settled  the 
fourth  community,  outside  the  two  settlements  already  made.  On  the 
17th  of  September,  1644,  Mr.  Williams,  returning  from  England,  landed 
at  Boston  with  the  first  charter,  constituting  "The  Incorporation  of 
Providence  Plantations  in  Narragansett  Bay."  This  state  paper,  con- 
firming the  right  and  authority  of  civil  government  on  the  United  Colony 
of  the  four  towns,  was  adopted  by  them  in  1647,  when  in  a  General  As- 
sembly, held  in  Newport,  in  May  of  that  year,  a  colonial  government  was 
organized  and  John  Coggeshall  of  Newport  was  chosen  president  of  the 
colony.    The  Williams  charter  omitted  all  reference  to  religious  concerns. 

In  1648  and  1649,  William  Coddington  of  Newport  was  chosen 
president  of  the  four  united  towns  of  the  colony.  On  the  execution  of 
Charles  the  First,  and  the  accession  of  Cromwell  and  the  Puritan  Com- 
monwealth, Coddington  sailed  to  England  and  obtained  a  commission  as 
Governor  for  life  of  the  islands  of  Aquidneck  and  Conanicut.  This  act 
nullified  the  charter  as  to  the  towns  of  Newport  and  Portsmouth,  and 
left  Warwick  and  the  plantations  with  the  whole  Narragansett  country  at 
the  mercy  of  the  colonies  of  Connecticut,  Massachusetts  Bay  and  Ply- 
mouth. The  whole  colony  was  aroused  and  John  Clarke,  representing 
the  Aquidneck  towns,  and  Roger  Williams  the  towns  of  Warwick  and 
Providence  were  sent  to  England  in  1651  to  obtain  a  recall  of  Codding- 
ton's  powers,  and  the  restoration  of  the  charter  of  1644,  and  in  1652  the 
successful  mission  of  Clarke  and  Williams  was  welcomed  by  the  people, 
— a  result  largely  due  to  the  influence  of  Sir  Harry  Vane  and  John 
Milton,  both  ardent  friends  of  the  Rhode  Island  principle.  In  1654,  Mr. 
Williams  returned  to  Providence,  leaving  John  Clarke  in  England  to 
protect  the  interests  of  the  four  towns,  again  united  in  one  colony. 


THE  ROYAL  CHARTER  431 

The  death  of  Cromwell  and  the  accession  of  Charles  the  Second  in 
1660  witnessed  a  new  crisis  in  our  colonial  history,  when  not  only  our 
charter  rights  were  destroyed,  but  even  our  territorial  holdings  were  put 
in  great  jeopardy.  The  restoration  of  the  Stuarts  and  the  annulment  of 
the  acts  of  the  Long  Parliament  made  it  necessary  for  Rhode  Island  to 
seek  a  new  charter.  The  hour  for  a  great  diplomat  had  come,  and  Dr. 
John  Clarke,  the  greatest  American  diplomat  of  his  age,  was  at  the  i)ost 
of  duty,  as  well  as  danger,  in  the  great  emergency,  and  after  long  and 
wearisome  debate,  fierce  and  determined  opposition  from  the  London 
agents  of  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts  Bay  Colonies,  and  malignant 
personal  abuse  from  unexpected  quarters,  he  secured  the  signature  and 
seal  of  Charles  the  Second  on  the  8th  day  of  July,  1663,  creating  in  per- 
petuity the  English  colony  of  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantations 
in  the  Narragansett  Bay,  New  England  in  America. 

Before  analyzing  the  meaning  of  the  Royal  Charter  it  is  well  to  call 
to  mind  the  several  acts  that  led  up  to  it,  for  "I leaven  is  not  reached  by  a 
single  bound.''  Neither  were  so  great  grants  of  freedom  secured  and 
enjoyed  without  a  struggle.  The  two  Bay  State  migrations  to  the  fron- 
tier on  Narragansett  Bay  were  singularly  unlike  in  origin  and  in  results. 
Mr.  Williams  and  his  followers  at  Providence  were  a  group  of  exiles, 
moved  by  local  and  individual  reasons, — "distressed  consciences"  was  the 
term  so  often  and  fittingly  used  by  Mr.  Williams  in  their  departure  from 
the  Bay. 

The  group  of  Aquidneck  founders  was  moved  by  a  clearly  defined 
principle,  discussed  and  moulded  in  the  Hutchinson  Forum  and  acted  on 
after  well  matured  convictions  that  made  it  a  moral  necessity  to  remove 
to  quarters  congenial  to  their  established  purpose  as  to  civil  and  religious 
freedom.  All  of  the  1638  exodus  from  Boston  had  conceptions  of  a  free 
state,  fashioned  after  a  new  model  shown  to  them  in  that  mount  of  vision. 
The  Boston  Compact  of  March  4,  1638,  was  its  first  written  formula. 
It  meant  all  it  said  and  all  that  could  be  implied  in  so  brief  an  instrument. 
In  the  orderly  development  of  their  ideal  state  we  find  these  planters  of  a 
new  commonwealth  proceeding  straight  forward,  bravely,  logically,  in 
obedience  to  law  and  magistracy.  Free  government  proceeding  from  the 
people,  wisely  intelligent,  laws  ecjual  and  efficient,  and  the  rights  of  indi- 
viduals in  freedom  of  worship  were  the  great  objectives  of  the  Aquid- 
neck settlers,  three  Inmdrcd  strong.  At  Portsmouth,  on  territory  pur- 
chased of  the  original  owners,  a  free  state  had  its  birth  in  1638.  Here, 
as  stated  by  Dr.  John  Clarke,  "we  were  resolved,  through  the  help  of 
Christ,  to  get  clear  of  all  and  be  of  ourselves."  At  Newport,  in  1639, 
Clarke,  Coddington  and  others  extended  the  area  of  their  free  institutions 
to  a  civil  corporation,  "A  Bodie  Politick,"  illustrating  on  a  larger  field  the 


432  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

purposes  of  the  founders  of  Pocasset.  Extending  the  domain  of  free  in- 
stitutions to  cover  free  education,  a  free  church  under  the  orderly  control 
of  freemen.  But  this  was  not  enough.  For  the  principle  of  freedom  is 
centrifugal,  co-operative  and  essentially  social  in  order  to  establish  legiti- 
mate Democracy.  Hence,  in  1640,  the  two  towns  unite  in  a  well  ordered 
union  styled  a  "Democracie."  This  was  the  purpose  of  the  Aquidneck 
founders  before  they  left  their  Boston  homes  of  comparative  comfort  to 
brave  the  hardships  and  trials  of  making  a  wilderness  a  fit  habitation  for 
the  institutions  of  freedom,  under  organized  law. 

A  Governor,  a  Deputy  Governor,  four  Assistants,  a  Secretary,  a 
Treasurer,  Sergeants  and  Constables  were  elected  to  govern  this  first 
Republic  of  the  World,  "a  Popular  Government."  And  to  make  clear 
their  meaning  as  to  "Democracie,"  "Popular  Government,"  they  declare 
by  the  pen  of  their  leading  statesman,  Dr.  John  Clarke,  "That  is  to  say, 

IT  IS  IN  THE  POWRE  OF  THE  BODY  OF  FrEEMEN  ORDERLY  ASSEMBLED,  OR 
THE  MAJOR  PART  OF  THEM,  TO  MAKE  OR  CONSTITUTE  JUST  LaWES,  BY 
WHICH  THEY  WILL  BE  REGULATED,  AND  TO  DEPUTE  FROM  AMONG  THEM- 
SELVES SUCH  Ministers  as  shall  see  them  executed  between  man 
AND  MAN."  But  to  add  the  capsheaf  to  this  unparalleled  definition  of 
Civil  Liberty,  this  declaration  follows:  "It  is  ordered  by  the  Author- 
ity   OF    THIS    PRESENT    GENERAL    CoURT,    THAT    NONE    BEE    ACCOUNTED    A 

Delinquent  for  Doctrine,  provided  it  be  not  directly  repugnant 
TO  ye  Government  or  Lawes  established." 

It  was  given  to  Mrs.  Anne  Hutchinson  of  Boston,  to  reveal,  in  her 
day,  the  soul's  capacity  for  receiving  direct  light  from  God,  and  to  come 
into  spiritual  union  and  communion  with  Him.  The  denial  of  freedom  to 
maintain  that  revelation  cost  her  and  her  associates  in  belief  the  pains 
and  penalties  of  banishment.  It  was  given  to  Dr.  John  Clarke,  also  of 
Boston,  and  William  Coddington  and  many  others,  to  have  a  clear  vision 
of  a  free  state,  in  which  each  person  could  enjoy  and  improve  his  own 
ideals  of  spiritual  worship,  thereby  enlarging  the  Hutchinson  conception 
to  its  logical  issues  and  for  this  Clarke  and  a  great  body  of  men  and 
women  were  forced  to  the  wilderness,  for  the  enjoyment  of  their  revela- 
tion and  birthright.  The  settlements  at  Portsmouth  and  Newport  and  the 
founding  of  the  Colony  of  Rhode  Island  on  Aquidneck  was  the  concrete 
fabric  of  their  civic  philosophy  and  their  heart  longings.  For  clearness 
and  completeness  of  definition,  brevity  of  diction,  and  absolute  reality  in 
application  the  Rhode  Island  (Aquidneck)  Declaration  challenges  history 
for  a  superior  or  a  prior  claim.  The  Constitution  of  Hooker,  the  Phil- 
osophy of  John  Locke,  and  the  Statesmanship  of  Jefiferson  and  .A.dams, 
are  all  embodied  in  the  Rhode  Island  Declaration  of  Civil  and  Religious 
Liberty  of  1638- 1641. 


THE  ROYAL  CHARTER  433 

And  what  was  the  content  of  constitutional  freedom  of  the  Royal 
Charter  of  1663? 

First  was  the  recognition  of  the  absolute  right  of  the  Indian  tribes 
to  the  soil  and  the  guarantee  of  the  Indian  titles  to  estates  in  fee  simple 
to  the  original  planters  of  the  colony.  This  was  a  remarkable  concession, 
in  that  it  annulled  all  prior  claims  to  Indian  lands  by  right  of  discovery 
or  conquest  as  vested  in  the  crown,  and  established  the  contracts  as  made 
between  the  settlers  and  the  Xarragansetts,  as  valid  and  binding  on  all 
concerned.  The  words  of  the  charter  are,  "and  are  seized  and  possessed, 
by  ]Hirchase  and  consent  of  the  said  natives,  to  their  full  content,  of  such 
lands,  islands,  rivers,  harbors,  and  roads,  as  are  very  convenient,  etc." 
By  these  words  all  Indian  land  titles  were  confirmed  and  established  by 
royal  consent  and  authority  throughout  Rhode  Island.  In  other  colonies 
the  lands  were  bestowed  by  the  crown  and  confirmed  by  the  natives,  but 
here  Indian  sales  were  confirmed  by  the  King  and  as  a  further  grant,  the 
settlers  were  permitted  '"to  direct,  rule,  order  and  dispose  of  all  other 
matters  and  things,  and  particularly  that  which  relates  to  the  making  of 
purchases  of  the  native  Indians."  These  concessions  were  in  answer  to 
the  claims  of  Clarke  and  Williams,  so  long  maintained,  that  the  Indians 
were  the  rightful  owners  of  the  soil  they  occupied. 

Next  to  the  perfect  guarantee  of  Indian  titles,  was  the  perfect  and 
complete  guaranteed  political  life  in  a  body  politic  styled  "THE  GOVER- 
NOR AND  COMPANY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  COLONY  OF  RHODE 
ISLAND  AND  PROVIDENCE  PLANTATIONS,  ETC."  "that  by  the 
same  name,  they  and  their  successors  shall  and  may  have  perpetual  suc- 
cession, and  shall  and  may  be  persons  able  and  capable,  in  the  law  to  sue 
and  be  sued,  to  plead  and  be  impleaded,  to  answer  and  be  answered  unto, 
to  defend  and  be  defended,  etc.  *  *  *  ^g  others  our  liege  people  of 
this  realm  of  England,  or  any  corporation  or  body  politic  within  the  same 
may  lawfully  do." 

This  body  so  ordained  contained  all  the  machinery  of  government, 
perfect,  absolute,  complete  in  and  of  itself,  responsible  for  its  acts  and  so 
constituted  as  to  fulfill  all  the  functions  of  self-protection  and  defense. 

Still  further,  to  set  this  complicated  machinery  of  state  in  order  and 
motion,  "We  will  and  ordain,  and  by  these  presents,  for  us,  our  heirs,  and 
successors,  do  declare  and  appoint  that  for  the  better  ordering  and  man- 
aging of  the  affairs  and  business  of  the  .said  company,  and  their  successors, 
there  shall  be  one  Governor,  one  deputy  Governor  and  10  assistants,  to 
be  from  time  to  time,  constituted,  elected  and  chosen,  out  of  the  freemen 
of  the  said  company,  for  the  time  being,  in  such  manner  and  form  as  is 
hereafter  in  these  presents  expressed,  which  said  officers  shall  apply 
themselves  to  take  care  for  the  best  disjJosing  and  ordering  of  the  genera] 

R  1—28 


434  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

business  and  affairs  of  and  concerning  the  lands,  and  hereditaments  here- 
inafter mentioned  to  be  granted,  and  the  plantation  thereof,  and  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  people  there.  And,  for  the  better  execution  of  our  royal 
pleasure  herein,  we  do,  for  us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  assign,  name,  con- 
stitute, and  appoint  the  aforesaid  Benedict  Arnold  to  be  the  first  and 
present  Governor  of  the  said  company,  and  the  said  William  Brenton 
to  be  deputy  governor,  with  ten  assistants  therein  named,  to  continue 
in  office  until  the  first  Wednesday  in  May,  next  coming.  And  forever 
thereafter  the  major  part  of  the  freeman  shall  elect  assistants  and  dep- 
uties semi-annually,  to  a  meeting  or  assembly  to  be  called  The  General 
Assembly,  to  consult,  advise  and  determine,  in  and  about  the  affairs  and 
business  of  tlie  said  company  and  plantations." 

Here  was  American  democracy  pure  and  simple. 

First,  the  freemen  whose  qualifications  were  determinable  by  the 
body  politic,  the  corporation  of  Rhode  Island.  Suffrage,  by  this  instru- 
ment, was  limited  only,  as  to-day,  by  the  will  of  the  people.  No  word 
as  to  manhood  or  womanhood  suffrage,  no  property  qualification,  no  ref- 
erence to  native  or  foreign  born — simply  the  freemen. 

Further,  "the  major  part  of  the  freemen  of  the  respective  towns," 
elected  their  representatives.  Here  we  have  the  great  law  of  majority 
rule  in  elections,  which  has  held  sway  in  town  and  state  legislative  pro- 
cedure for  three  centuries.  The  Rhode  Island  town  is  here  recognized 
as  the  unit  of  political  institutions  and  the  purest  illustration  of  popular 
government  of,  for  and  by  the  people. 

The  General  Assembly  as  above  constituted  and  elected  by  the  free- 
men, in  town  meeting  assembled,  was  granted  full  power  and  authority 
"from  time  to  time  and  at  all  times  hereafter  to  appoint,  alter  and  change 
such  days,  times  and  places  of  meeting  and  General  Assembly  as  they  shall 
think  fit ;  and  to  choose,  nominate  and  appoint  such  and  so  many  other 
persons  as  they  shall  think  fit,  and  shall  be  willing  to  accept  the  same,  to 
be  free  of  the  said  company  and  body  politic,  and  then  into  the  same  to 
admit ;  and  to  elect  and  constitute  such  offices  and  officers  and  to  grant 
such  needful  commissions,  as  they  shall  think  fit  and  requisite,  for  the 
ordering,  managing  and  dispatching  of  the  affairs  of  the  said  Governor 
and  company,  and  their  successors ;  and  from  time  to  time  to  make,  ordain, 
constitute  or  repeal  such  laws,  statutes,  orders  and  ordinances,  forms 
and  ceremonies  of  government  and  magistracy  as  to  them  shall  seem 
meet  for  the  good  and  welfare  of  the  said  comi>any,  and  for  the  govern- 
ment and  ordering  of  the  lands  and  hereditaments,  hereinafter  mentioned 
to  be  granted,  and  of  the  people  that  do,  or  at  any  time  hereafter  shall 
inhabit  or  be  within  the  same ;  so  as  such  laws,  ordinances  and  constitu- 
tions, so  made,  be  not  contrary  and  repugnant  unto,  but  as  near  as  may 


THE  ROYAL  CHARTER  435 

be.  agreeable  to  the  laws  of  this  our  realm  of  England,  considering  the 
nature  and  constitution  of  the  place  and  people  there,  and  also  to  regulate 
and  order  the  way  and  manner  of  all  elections  to  offices  and  places  of 
trust,  and  to  prescribe,  limit  and  distinguish  the  numbers  and  bounds  of 
all  places,  towns  or  cities  within  the  limits  and  hounds  hereinafter  men- 
tioned, and  not  herein  particularly  named,  who  have,  or  shall  have,  the 
power  of  electing  and  sending  of  freemen  to  the  said  General  Assembly ; 
and  also  to  order,  direct  and  authorize  the  imposing  of  lawful  and  reason- 
able fines,  mulcts,  imprisonments  and  executing  other  punishments, 
pecuniary  and  corporal,  upon  offenders  and  delinquents,  etc.,  according 
to  the  course  of  other  corporations  in  the  English  realm." 

The  General  Assembly  was  "to  appoint,  order  and  direct,  erect  and 
settle  such  places  and  courts  of  jurisdiction,  for  the  hearing  and  deter- 
mining of  all  actions,  cases,  matters  and  things,  happening  within  the  said 
colony  and  plantation,  and  which  shall  be  in  dispute,  and  depending 
there,  as  they  shall  think  fit  and  also  to  distinguish  and  set  for  the  several 
names  and  titles,  duties,  powers  and  limits,  of  each  court,  office  and 
officer,  superior  and  inferior ;  and  also  to  contrive  and  ajjpoint  such 
forms  of  oaths  and  attestations,  not  repugnant,  but  as  near  as  may  be 
agreeable,  as  aforesaid,  to  the  laws  and  statutes  of  this  our  realm,  as  are 
convenient  and  requisite  with  respect  to  the  due  administration  of  justice, 
and  due  execution  and  discharge  of  all  offices  and  places  of  trust  by  the 
persons  that  shall  be  therein  concerned." 

Religious  liberty  was  confirmed  and  forever  established  in  the  remark- 
able utterances,  the  leading  declaration  of  which  appears  in  a  prior  letter 
from  Dr.  John  Clarke  to  Charles  II,  under  date  of  1662.  This  letter  sets 
at  rest  forever  the  authorship  of  the  sentiment  cut  in  marble  in  the  facade 
of  the  State  House,  and  so  often  credited  to  Roger  Williams.  It  is  a 
monument  to  the  greatness  of  Dr.  John  Clarke. 

And  whereas,  in  their  humble  address,  they  have  freely  de- 
clared, THAT  IT  IS  MUCH  ON  THEIR  HEARTS  (iF  THEY  MAY  BE  PERMITTED) 
TO  HOLD  FORTH  A  LIVELY  EXPERIMENT,  THAT  A  MOST  FLOURISHING  CIVIL 
STATE  MAY  STAND  AND  BEST  BE  MAINTAINED,  AND  THAT  AMONG  OUR  ENG- 
LISH SUBJECTS,  WITH  A  FULL  LIBERTY  IN  RELIGIOUS  CONCERNMENTS:  AND 
THAT  TRUE  PIETY  RIGHTLY  GROUNDED  UPON  GOSPEL  PRINCIPLES,  WILL  GIVF 
T?IE  BEST  AND  GREATEST  SECURITY  TO  SOVEREIGNTY,  AND  WILL  LAY  IN  THE 
HEARTS    OF    MEN    THE    STRONGEST    OBLIGATIO.VS    TO    TRUE    LOYALTY:     Xow, 

know  ye,  that  we,  being  willing  to  encourage  the  hopeful  undertaking  of 
our  said  loyal  and  loving  subjects,  and  to  secure  them  in  the  free  exercise 
and  enjoyment  of  all  their  civil  and  religious  rights,  appertaining  to 
them,  as  our  loving  subjects;  and  to  preserve  unto  them  that  liberty,  in 
the  true  Christian  faith  and  worship  of  God,  which  they  have  sought  with 
so  much  travail,  and  with  peaceable  minds,  and  loyal  subjection  to  our 
royal  progenitors  and  ourselves  to  enjoy;  and  because  some  of  the  people 


436  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

and  inhabitants  of  the  same  colony  cannot,  in  their  private  opinions,  con- 
form to  the  public  exercise  of  religion,  according  to  the  liturgy,  forms  and 
ceremonies  of  the  Church  of  England,  or  take  or  subscribe  the  oaths  and 
articles  made  and  established  in  that  behalf;  and  for  that  the  same,  by 
reason  of  the  remote  distances  of  those  places,  will  (as  we  hope)  be  no 
breach  of  the  unity  and  uniformity  established  in  this  nation:  Have 
therefore  thought  fit,  and  do  hereby  publish,  grant,  ordain  and  declare, 
That  our  royal  will  and  pleasure  is,  that  no  person  within  the  said  colony, 
at  any  time  hereafter  shall  be  anywise  molested,  punished,  disquieted,  or 
called  in  question,  for  any  differences  in  opinion  in  matters  of  religion, 
and  do  not  actually  disturb  the  civil  peace  of  our  said  colony ;  but  that 
all  and  every  person  and  persons  may,  from  time  to  time,  and  at  all  times 
hereafter,  freely  and  fully  have  and  enjoy  his  and  their  own  judginents 
and  consciences,  in  matters  of  religious  concernments,  throughout  the 
tract  of  land  hereafter  mentioned,  they  behaving  themselves  peaceably 
and  quietly,  and  not  using  this  liberty  to  licentiousness  and  profaneness, 
nor  to  the  civil  injury  or  outward  disturbance  of  others,  any  law,  statute, 
or  clause  therein  contained,  or  to  be  contained,  usage  or  custom  of  this 
realm,  to  the  contrary  hereof,  in  any  wise  notwithstanding. 

In  this  declaration  as  to  rights  of  conscience  in  religious  concerns. 
Dr.  Clarke  quotes  from  the  famous  letter  of  Charles  the  Second  to  the 
Commons,  known  as  the  Declaration  of  Breda,  April  4-14,  1660,  in  which 
he  affirms  "that  no  man  shall  be  disquieted  or  called  in  question  for  differ- 
ences of  opinion  in  matters  of  religion  which  do  not  disturb  the  peace  of 
the  kingdom." 

Other  valuable  privileges  and  concessions  were  granted,  but  enough 
have  been  presented  to  show  that  the  Rhode  Island  government  was 
clothed  with  all  the  powers  and  prerogatives  of  a  free,  democratic  republic. 
Territorial  rights,  citizenship,  freemanship,  the  franchise,  administrative 
assemblies,  a  representative  government,  an  unrestricted  law-making 
power,  an  independent  judiciary,  freedom  of  speech,  of  political  action, 
of  conscience,  or  religious  faith,  were  granted  to  Rhode  Island  by  the 
sovereign  grace  of  Charles  the  Second,  the  founder  and  friend  of  a  free 
colony,  under  the  broad  imperial  aegis  of  Great  Britain. 

On  so  broad  a  platform  of  constitutional  rights,  the  colony  of  Rhode 
Island  stood  the  freest  commonwealth  in  principle  and  practice  on  the  face 
of  the  earth.  So  broad,  so  practical,  so  efficient  were  the  provisions  of  this 
great  charter  of  human  rights  and  of  constitutional  government  that  it 
stood  all  the  needs  of  a  Colonial  life,  a  period  of  113  years,  and  then 
served  the  needs  of  a  State  Constitution  within  the  Federal  Republic  for 
67  years — a  total  of  180  years, — the  oldest  of  all. 

This  charter  was  the  fruit  of  twelve  years  of  toil  of  Dr.  John  Oarke 
in  England,  during  which  time  he  had  expended  all  of  his  available  funds, 
and  had  mortgaged  his  private  property  to  promote  the  object  he  had  in 
hand. 


THE  ROYAL  CHARTER  437 

But  the  object  of  his  mission  was  attained;  the  charter  was  secure 
and  his  title  to  be  known  as  the  greatest  benefactor  of  the  Colony  was 
fully  earned.  I  firmly  believe  that  there  was  not  then  a  better  balanced 
mind  than  Clarke's  in  all  America,  and  Rhode  Island  never  had  a  more 
devoted  friend. — Centennial  Historical  Address  at  NezL'port,  July  4,  i8j6. 
— Hon.  William  P.  Shefkield. 

Our  State  Historian  Arnold  says  of  it : 

Under  it  the  state  was  an  absolute  sovereignty  with  powers  to  make 
its  own  laws,  religious  freedom  was  guaranteed,  and  no  oath  of  allegiance 
was  required.  Rhode  Island  became  in  fact,  as  well  as  in  name,  an  inde- 
pendent state  from  that  day. 

The  e.xtent  of  the  power  conferred  by  this  charter  is  indeed  surpris- 
ing. The  military  arm,  always  relied  upon  as  the  distinctive  barrier  of 
the  throne,  is  formally  and  fully  surrendered  to  the  people,  in  this  instru- 
ment, even  to  the  extreme  point  of  declaring  martial  law — a  grant,  which 
in  repeated  cases,  the  government  of  Rhode  Island  successfully  defended 
in  later  years  against  the  threats  and  the  arguments  of  the  royal  governors 
of  New  England. 

With  this  charter,  serving  as  the  basis  of  government,  rather  than 
prescribing  its  form,  the  state  led  the  way  in  the  final  struggle  for  national 
independence. 

Rev.  Dr.  S.  Adlam,  a  successor  of  Dr.  Clarke  in  the  pastorate  of  the 
John  Qarke  Memorial  Church  of  Newport,  in  an  address  before  the 
Newport  Historical  Society,  in  1871,  ably  advocated  the  claims  of  Dr, 
John  Clarke  as  the  founder  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  instead  of  Roger 
Williams.    He  said: 

The  charter  obtained  by  Clarke  had  for.  its  central  principle  Free- 
dom, Especially  Religious  Freedom.  Secured  by  Fundamental  Law. 
*  *  *  Roger  Williams  had  notliing  to  do  with  procuring  that  charter. 
It  was  by  the  skill,  energy  and  perseverance  of  Clarke,  that  that  priceless 
gift  was  obtained.  *  *  *  It  was  the  Island  and  not  Roger  Williams 
that  became  the  law-giver  of  Rhode  Island. 

Henry  Cabot  Lodge  in  his  History  of  English  Colonies  in  America, 
who  wittingly  holds  the  ancient  Massachusetts  animus  as  to  our  colonial 
government  says : 

Qarke  was  an  adroit  and  an  able  man;  *  *  *  Clarke's  charter 
soon  after  passed  the  seals  and  the  Governor  and  Company  of  Rhode 
Island  were  fairly  incorporated.  This  charter  was  drawn  in  the  most  lib- 
eral terms  possible — establishing  a  purely  popular  elective  government — 
while  it  bore  marks  of  its  author  in  its  provision  that  no  one  should  be 
molested  for  any  religious  opinion,  if  the  peace  was  kept. 

To  Bancroft,  our  greatest  American  historian,  belongs  the  honor  of 
bestowing  upon  the  Rhode  Island  charter  of  1663,  the  first  position  as  a 


438  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

state  paper  among  the  records  of  civilized  men,  and  of  according  to  Dr. 
John  Clarke,  the  agent  of  the  Colony  of  Rhode  Island  and  the  author  of 
the  immortal  document,  enduring  words  of  praise. 

After  referring  to  the  remarkably  liberal  charter  of  the  Colony  of 
Connecticut  of  1662,  he  writes: 

Rhode  Island  was  fostered  by  Charles  II  with  still  greater  liberality. 
When  Roger  Williams  had  succeeded  in  obtaining  from  the  Long  Parlia- 
ment the  confirmed  union  of  the  territories  that  now  constitute  the  state, 
he  returned  to  America  (1654)  leaving  John  Clarke  as  the  agent  of  the 
colony  in  England.  Never  did  a  young  commonwealth  possess  a  more 
faithful  friend:  and  never  did  a  young  people  cherish  a  fonder  desire  for 
the  enfranchisement  of  mind. 

"Plead  our  case,  they  had  said  to  him  in  previous  instructions  which 
Gorton  and  others  had  drafted,  in  such  sort  as  we  may  not  be  compelled 
to  exercise  any  civil  power  over  men's  conscience ;  we  do  judge  it  no  less 
than  a  point  of  absolute  cruelty."  *  *  *  Xhe  good-natured  monarch 
listened  to  their  petition;  Clarendon  exerted  himself  in  their  behalf;  the 
making  trial  of  religious  freedom  in  a  nook  of  a  remote  continent  could 
not  appear  dangerous ;  it  might  at  once  build  up  another  rival  to  Massa- 
chusetts and  solve  a  problem  in  the  history  of  man.     *     *     * 

This  charter  of  government,  establishing  a  political  system  which 
few  besides  the  Rhode  Islanders  themselves  then  believed  to  be  practi- 
cable, remained  in  existence  till  it  became  the  oldest  constitutional  charter 
in  the  world.  *  *  *  Nowhere  in  the  world  were  life,  liberty  and 
property  safer  than  in  Rhode  Island. 

He  calls  Dr.  John  Clarke,  "the  modest  and  virtuous  Clarke,  the  perse- 
vering and  disinterested  envoy,"  who  "parted  with  his  little  means  for  the 
public  good" ;  and  "left  a  name  on  which  no  one  can  cast  a  shade." 

And  so  it  came  to  pass  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II,  King  of  England, 
to  wit,  in  1663,  through  the  intercession  of  Dr.  John  Clarke,  Envoy  Ex- 
traordinary from  the  Colony  of  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantations, 
for  12  years,  from  1651  ; 

That  the  boundaries  of  the  colony  were  clearly  defined ; 

That  the  Indian  deeds  of  lands  were  confirmed ; 

Tliat  the  estate  of  freemen  was  confirmed ; 

That  civil  government  was  vested  in  this  democratic  estate; 

That  a  dc  facto  government  was  established  and  set  up ; 

That  the  law-making  power  was  vested  in  an  elective  body,  styled 
the  General  Assembly ; 

That  a  judiciary  was  created  for  the  determination  of  justice ; 

That  a  military  force  was  ordained  for  defense  ; 

That  martial  law  was  vested  in  the  executive ; 

That  freedom  of  worship  and  of  conscience  was  made  the  basis  of 
individual  rights; 


THE  ROYAL  CHARTER 


439 


And,  all  under  the  laws,  ordinances  and  constitutions,  "agreeable  to 
the  laws  of  this  our  realm  of  England,  considering  the  nature  and  con- 
stitution of  the  people  there."  And  these  things  and  more  were  embodied 
in  that  great  instrument,  the  Royal  Charter;  were  the  inherent  elements 
of  our  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  have  been  the  foundations  of 
the  civil  state  we  love  and  honor. 

Had  Dr.  John  Clarke  of  Newport  no  other  claim  to  the  first  place 
among  the  founders  of  American  Colonies,  the  Royal  Charter  of  1663 
would  confer  that  honor. 


CHAPTER  XXV 


KING  PHILIP'S  WAR 


CHAPTER  XXV. 
KING   PHILIP'S  WAR. 

King  Philip's  War,  so  tremenduously  destructive  to  the  New  Eng- 
land colonies,  in  human  life  and  property,  was  the  sequel  of  the  Pec|uot 
War,  although  sc]>aratcd  from  it  in  time  hy  almost  forty  years.  In  gen- 
eral it  may  be  said  that  the  causes  and  grievances  leading  up  to  the  two 
wars  were  the  same,  although  conditions  were  materially  altered.  The 
chief  sachems  of  the  Wampanoags  and  the  Narragansetts,  Massassoit, 
Canonicus  and  Miantonomi,  were  dead,  as  were  most  of  the  leading  col- 
onists of  the  earlier  Indian  War.  Roger  Williams,  now  an  old  man,  had 
lost  his  influence  over  the  Narragansetts  and  Wampanoags.  Philip,  the 
chief  sachem  of  the  Wampanoags,  forgetting  the  alliance  made  by  his 
father  with  Plymouth  Colony,  and  nursing  the  trials  of  land  losses  and 
the  restrained  freedom  of  savage  life,  was  the  leader  of  the  great  move- 
ment for  the  extermination  of  the  white  settlements  of  New  England. 
The  Pequot  motive  now  possessed  all  the  Indian  tribes  from  the  Hudson 
to  the  St.  Croix  rivers,  and  the  terrible  acts  of  Indian  savagery  fell  with 
terrific  force  on  the  scattered  settlements  in  the  Maine  forests,  the  prom- 
ising towns  and  villages  of  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts  and  Rhode 
Island  and  the  peaceful  settlers  on  the  banks  of  the  Connecticut. 

Philip's  War  was  an  irrepressible  conflict.  From  the  nature  and  cir- 
cumstances of  the  combatants  it  could  not  have  been  avoided.  The  clash 
between  civilization  and  barbarism  must  come  and  for  the  safety  of  the 
Colonial  life  it  was  most  fortunate  that  it  came  in  1675  rather  than  in 
1637.  Had  the  Narragansetts  united  with  the  Pequots  in  the  earlier  con- 
test, the  weak  and  struggling  Colonies  could  not  have  held  their  own 
against  their  savage  foes.  A  wonder-working  Providence  wrought, 
through  Roger  W'illiams  as  its  agent,  confusion  in  the  plans  of  Sassacus 
and  saved  the  embryo  settlements  from  effacement. 

In  1675,  the  New  England  colonists  numbered  50^cxx)  settlers,  almost 
wholly  English  stock  of  the  yeoman  and  middle  classes,  with  a  few 
merchants  from  Devon  and  Dorset.  The  clergy  and  the  political  and  social 
leaders  were  educated  men,  many  of  them  graduates  of  Cambridge  and 
Oxford  Universities.  Industry  was  the  law  of  life  for  the  farmer  and 
the  tradesman.  A  rigid  economy  ensured  a  protecting  roof  and  a  simple 
but  nourishing  cuisine  for  every  family.  Puritan  orthodoxy  of  various 
shades  and  potency  held  sway  over  the  mental  and  moral  life  of  the 
people  and  the  Puritan  clergy,  always  deploring  the  sins  and  shortcom- 
ings of  the  churches,  was  at  the  acme  of  its  influence  over  New  England 


444  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

life.  Boston,  then  as  now,  the  metropolis  of  New  England,  had  between 
4000  and  5000  inhabitants,  and  was  the  leading  port  of  commerce  and 
of  immigration  on  the  Eastern  Coast  north  of  New  York.  The  total  pop- 
ulation of  this  section  was  divided  among  about  ninety  towns,  four  of 
which  were  in  Rhode  Island,  twelve  in  Plymouth,  twenty-two  in  Con- 
necticut and  the  others  in  the  Bay  Colony.  The  Connecticut  towns  occu- 
pied the  fertile  river  valleys.  The  Rhode  Island  towns  were  snugly 
located  on  Narragansett  Bay,  and  the  Massachusetts  towns  were  separated 
by  varying  distances,  Etedham  and  Concord  being  respectfully  ten  and 
sixteen  miles  from  Boston,  Weymouth  ten  miles,  while  Hadley  and 
Northampton  and  Agawam,  now  Springfield,  were  the  most  remote  and 
exposed  frontier  towns,  with  Brookfield,  Lancaster,  Mendon  and  Marl- 
boro on  the  main  inland  Indian  trail  from  the  Connecticut  Valley  to  the 
sea  on  the  east.  Each  settlement  was  compacted  at  a  chosen  centre  with 
its  church  as  the  central  post  of  worship  and  defence.  In.  some  towns, 
a  stockade  had  been  erected  for  protection  against  Indian  invasion.  The 
early  log  houses  had,  in  the  older  settlements,  given  place  to  framed 
buildings,  plastered  and  covered  with  shaved  clap-boards.  Militia  com- 
panies were  formed  in  each  town,  and  all  ablebodied  men  were  enrolled 
under  a  captain,  a  lieutenant  and  a  corporal.  The  match-lock  musket 
was  the  chief  instrument  of  offensive  and  defensive  combat.  Whittier 
in  "The  Exiles,"  tells  us: 

"Down  from  his  cottage  wall  he  caught 
The  matchlock  hotly  tried 
At  Prestonpans  and  Marston  Moor 
By  fiery  Cretan's  side." 

In  general  it  may  be  said  that  the  Colonists  had  wrested  from  wilder- 
ness conditions  and  a  stubborn  soil  and  climate  a  large  acreage  of  farm- 
steads and  a  comfortable  livelihood,  after  a  half  century  of  persevering, 
self-sacrificing  toil.  Palfrey  suggests  that  a  retrograde  step  in  the  direc- 
tion of  lower  conditions  of  life  might  have  been  naturally  expected  in  the 
second  generation  of  New  England  Colonists.  But  instead  of  a  decline  in 
any  of  the  elements  of  civilization  there  had  been  a  real  advance  along 
all  lines  of  human  activities.  Town  governments  were  well  administered, 
schools  were  established,  meeting  houses  built,  the  Puritan  clergy  prop- 
erly supported.  The  simple  and  healthful  forms  of  democracy  were 
adopted  in  the  social  and  civil  life  and  the  general  spirit  of  unity  among 
the  peoples  of  English  stock  foretold  a  confederacy  of  a  new  type  in 
New  England. 

Into  this  hopeful  condition  of  society  Philip's  War  projected  itself 
as  a  destroyer  of  peace,  property  and  life,  converting  every  house  into 
a  fortress  and  every  man  and  woman  and  child  into  a  warrior  defender. 


KING  PHILIP'S  WAR  445 

There  has  been  no  darker  history  in  New  England  or  Rhode  Island  his- 
tory than  tliat  of  Philip's  War,  and  no  sadder  experiences  befell  the  early 
settlers  than  during  the  bloody  epoch  of  1675-6.  Of  King  Philip,  leader 
of  the  Wampanoags,  the  Narragansetts  and  other  confederated  tribes  in 
this  frightful  war,  it  may  be  said  most  truthfully  that  he  was  the  greatest 
Indian  warrior  of  whom  we  have  record.  His  control  of  his  own  tribe 
was  complete  and  unquestioned  and  his  alliance  with  Canonchet  and  the 
Narragansetts  was  a  piece  of  remarkable  Indian  diplomacy.  The  chiefs 
of  both  tribes  were  obliged  to  set  aside  signed  treaty  obligations  with  all 
the  Colonies  and  to  set  at  defiance  power  and  friendship  of  men  who  had 
been  their  protectors  in  earlier  days,  like  Williams,  Clarke,  Coddington 
and  the  younger  Winthrop.  Philip's  shrewdness,  sagacity  and  cunning 
in  his  dealings  with  the  whites  were  unequaled  in  Indian  strategy'.  His 
skill  and  diplomacy  in  uniting  tribes,  some  of  which  had  been  his  life-long 
enemies,  show  a  power  of  organization  and  control  equal  to,  if  not 
superior,  to  that  of  statesmen  and  warriors  of  superior  races.  His  strong 
friendship  shielded  many  of  his  benefactors  in  the  time  of  their  greatest 
peril,  while  his  revenge  was  a  cyclone  of  terror,  that  swept  all  before  it. 
His  campaigns  were  short,  sharp,  decisive.  His  coolness  and  courage  in 
battle  made  Philip  the  natural  leader  of  the  savage  forces,  while  his 
caution  protected  him  in  ambush  or  in  flight.  The  tomahawk,  the  scalp- 
ing knife  and  the  torch  were  his  usual  weapons,  and  stood  him  in  the 
same  stead  as  the  rifle,  the  bayonet  and  the  cannon  of  modern  warfare. 
Let  us  remember  that  Philip  was  a  savage  with  the  nature,  the  in- 
stincts, the  traditions,  the  education  and  the  association  of  savage  races 
for  untold  generations.  He  found  himself  in  a  corner  of  the  old  Wam- 
panoag  broad  possessions,  shut  out  from  the  tribal  hunting  grounds  and 
shut  in  to  the  narrow  peninsula  of  Consumpsit  or  Mt.  Hope  Neck,  now 
Bristol,  Rhode  Island.  His  young  warriors  clamored  for  the  freedom 
of  the  chase,  dnd  the  wild  life  of  their  fathers  in  wigwam  and  forest, 
made  familiar  to  them  in  Indian  song  and  story.  Instead  of  the  wild 
game  roamed  the  contented  kine  of  the  white  man.  "The  five  rayle 
fence"  of  the  Swansea  settler  obstructed  the  feet  and  the  vision  of  the 
Indian  hunter.  F'hilip  was  the  sachem  and  as  such  the  servant  of  his 
tribe.  Their  restraints  and  wrongs  were  his  and  the  democracy  of  Indian 
communities  and  tribes  made  the  major  opinion  the  tribal  verdict.  What 
wonder  then  that  Philip  was  restless,  "cabined,  cribbed,  confined,"  chaf- 
ing under  the  unusual  harness.  What  wonder  that  he  sought  to  make 
friendly  relations  with  the  Narragansetts,  whose  complainings  were  as 
earnest  and  whose  wrongs  at  the  hands  of  the  Bay  Colony  had  been  more 
severe  and  distressing.  Philip  was  a  slave  on  his  own  soil,  although  with 
his  own  hands  he  had  unwittingly  wrought  the  chains  that  bound  him. 


446  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

The  free  spirit  of  the  Indian  compelled  him  to  make  a  manly,  a  supreme 
effort  for  freedom,  even  if  that  freedom  involved  the  destruction  of  the 
settlements  he  had  encouraged  by  sale  of  land,  and  the  extermination  of 
colonies,  bound  to  his  father's  tribal  government  by  solemn  treaty,  and 
an  alliance,  offensive  and  defensive.  What  Philip  sought  was  the  status 
quo  ante, — the  condition  that  existed  on  the  red  man's  soil  before  the 
white  man  had  occupied  it.  The  alternative  was  his  own  extermination 
by  the  white  man's  rifle, — freedom  or  death.  He  chose  the  latter  in  his 
struggle  for  the  former.  Death  was  sweeter  than  civilization.  For  Philip 
and  his  immediate  associates  scarcely  a  twelvemonth  had  elapsed  before 
their  doom  was  sealed,  but  the  conflict,  entered  upon  with  the  first  war- 
whoop  at  Mt.  Hope,  Rhode  Island,  in  1675,  did  not  end  until  the  close  of 
the  French  and  Indian  War,  nearly  a 'century  later. 

While  King  Philip's  War  was  not,  in  its  leadership,  a  Rhode  Island 
war,  it  may  have  been  in  its  inception  and  was  in  the  alliance  of  the 
Narragansetts  with  the  Wampanoags.  So  far  as  its  far  reaching  motif 
extended  it  was  a  New  England  or  an  eastern  war,  and  became  finally 
an  international  war  between  the  French  and  the  English  Colonies  in 
North  America.  It  is  probable  that  the  cool-blooded,  unjustifiable  murder 
of  Miantonomi,  sachem  of  the  Narragansetts,  in  1643,  by  order  of  the 
Massachusetts  Bay  Colony,  was  one  of  more  remote  causes  that  called 
for  Indian  revenge  at  a  remote  day,  and  may  be  cited  in  proof  of  the  state- 
ment that  an  honest  Indian  never  forgot  to  remember  a  favor  or  a  friend 
and  to  return  evil  for  evil  on  an  enemy. 

King  Philip's  justification  of  his  course  in  making  war  on  the  col- 
onists is  an  eloquent  and  truthful  defence  of  his  acts  and  a  fitting  vale- 
dictory in  the  career  of  a  brave  and  an  unconquered  warrior,  and  is  worthy 
a  place  in  our  history.  Mr.  Arnold  calls  it  '"the  death  song  of  Metacomet, 
chanted  on  the  site  of  his  ancestral  home,  before  plunging  into  the  fatal 
strife  that  was  to  end  only  with  his  life,  and  to  seal  forever  the  fortune 
of  his  race."     King  Philip  said: 

The  English  who  came  first  to  this  country  were  but  an  handful  of 
people,  forlorn,  poor  and  distressed.  My  father  was  then  sachem.  He 
relieved  their  distresses  in  the  most  kind  and  hospitable  manner.  He 
gave  them  land  to  build  and  plant  upon.  He  did  all  in  his  power  to  serve 
them.  Others  of  their  countrymen  came  and  joined  them.  Their  numbers 
rapidly  increased.  My  father's  counsellors  became  uneasy  and  alarmed 
lest,  as  they  were  possessed  of  firearms,  which  was  not  the  case  of  the 
Indians,  they  should  finally  undertake  to  give  law  to  the  Indians,  and 
take  from  them  their  country.  They  therefore  advised  him  to  destroy 
them  before  they  should  become  too  strong,  and  it  should  be  too  late. 
My  father  was  also  the  father  of  the  English.  He  represented  to  his 
counsellors  and  warriors  that  the  English  knew  many  sciences  which  the 


KING  PHILIP'S  WAR  447 

Indians  did  not ;  that  they  improved  and  cultivated  the  earth,  and  raised 
cattle  and  fruits,  and  that  there  was  sufficient  room  in  the  country  for 
both  the  English  and  the  Indians.  His  advice  prevailed.  It  was  con- 
cluded to  give  victuals  to  the  English.  They  flourished  and  increased. 
Experience  taught  that  the  advice  of  my  father's  counsellors  was  right. 
By  various  means  they  got  possessed  of  a  great  part  of  his  territory.  But 
he  still  remained  their  friend  until  he  died.  My  elder  brother  became 
sachem.  They  pretended  to  suspect  him  of  evil  designs  against  them. 
He  was  seized  and  confined,  and  thereby  thrown  into  sickness  and  died. 
Soon  after  I  became  sachem  they  disarmed  all  my  people.  They  tried 
my  people  by  their  own  laws  and  assessed  damages  against  them  which 
they  could  not  pay.  Their  land  was  taken.  At  length  a  line  of  division 
was  agreed  upon  between  the  English  and  my  people,  and  I  myself  was 
to  be  responsible.  Sometimes  the  cattle  of  the  English  would  come  into 
the  cornfields  of  my  people,  for  they  did  not  make  fences  like  the  Eng- 
lish. I  must  then  be  seized  and  confined  till  I  sold  another  tract  of  my 
country  for  satisfaction  of  all  damages  and  costs.  But  a  small  part  of 
the  dominion  of  my  ancestors  remains.  I  am  determined  not  to  live  till 
1  have  no  country. 

This  was  King  Philip's  valedictory  to  the  English  colonists,  as  trans- 
lated into  our  tongue  by  a  friendly  white  man,  who  endeavored  to  dis- 
suade him  from  his  fatal  but  patriotic  decision. 

It  is  our  purpose  in  this  chapter  to  ])resent  the  main  features  of  the 
movements  that  led  to  the  first  overt  act  of  hostility  at  Swansea,  Massa- 
chusetts. June  20,  O.  S.,  1675.  We  shall  then  deal  with  the  events  of  the 
war  that  occurred  on  Rhode  Island  territory.  Before  taking  up  this  story, 
it  may  be  stated  that  Rhode  Island  was  not  a  member  of  the  New  England 
Confederacy  and  was  in  no  way  responsible  for  the  hostilities  occasioned 
by  the  other  Colonies.  She  did  all  in  her  power  to  avert  the  war,  public 
affairs  being  under  the  control  of  a  Quaker  government,  with  William 
Coddington,  senior,  a  Quaker  Governor,  presiding,  but  after  the  war  had 
begun  the  Colony  sent  men  and  provisions  in  aid  of  the  sister  Colonies. 
Still  more,  Newport  was  made  the  city  of  refuge  for  terrorized  peoples  of 
our  own  and  other  Colonies,  and  no  harm  befell  any  who  made  their 
escape  to  Aquidneck.  as  no  Indian  attack  was  made  on  that  Island. 

The  early  spring  months  of  1675  found  King  Philip  busily  at  work 
with  the  Narragansetts,  the  Nipmucs  and  the  Connecticut  river  tribes  in 
co-operation  with  him  in  his  intended  war  on  the  English  Colonies  in 
New  England.  The  execution  of  the  three  Wampanoag  Indians  at  Ply- 
mouth for  the  murder  of  Sassamon,  enraged  Pliili])  and  hastened  the 
blow  he  was  preparing.  Reports  of  the  shooting  of  cattle,  the  stealing  of 
corn,  the  robbing  of  houses  and  the  burning  of  buildings  reached  the  ears 
of  the  Colonial  Governors.  The  Indian  warriors  were  defiant,  strange 
Indians  were  swarming  into  Philip's  villages  and  his  women  and  children 


448  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

were  sent  to  the  Narragansetts.  The  settlers  were  alarmed  and  saw 
portents  in  the  skies  that  forboded  war.  Mather  tells  us  that  many  heard 
the  thunder  of  hoofs  of  horses  carrying  invisible  horsemen,  and  bullets 
fired  from  no  earthly  weapons  whistled  through  the  air. 

The  Colony  of  Rhode  Island,  alarmed  at  Indian  activities,  sent  Dep- 
uty Governor  Easton,  Samuel  Gorton  and  four  others  on  a  mission  of 
arbitration  to  treat  with  Philip  at  Mt.  Hope.  King  Philip  and  his  chiefs 
met  the  pacifist  delegates  at  Bristol  and  recited  the  wrongs  they  had 
received  from  the  whites,  and  urged  the  golden  rule  that  the  English 
should  now  treat  the  Indian,  in  his  weakness,  as  the  Indian  had  treated 
the  English  in  their  great  needs.  The  Rhode  Island  delegates  urged  them 
not  to  make  war  on  the  whites,  for  the  English  would  surely  conquer. 
King  Philip's  attitude  was  that  of  a  warrior,  content  to  make  the  sacrifice 
of  himself  and  his  nation,  as  a  protest  against  real  or  fancied  wrongs. 

On  June  15,  1675,  we  are  introduced  to  Capt.  Benjamin  Church,  of 
Little  Compton,  Rhode  Island,  the  great  Indian  fighter.  Church,  now  in 
his  prime,  having  been  born  at  Plymouth,  1639,  a  carpenter  by  trade, 
moving  after  his  marriage  to  Little  Compton,  was  invited  by  Awashonks, 
squaw  sachem  of  the  Sakonet  tribe  to  a  ceremonious  dance,  in  honor  of 
six  ambassadors  from  Philip,  her  war-lord,  sent  to  secure  her  co-opera- 
tion in  the  war.  Telling  Church  of  their  mission,  he  advised  Awashonks 
to  slay  her  Indian  guests  and  betake  herself  to  the  English,  which  she 
declined  to  do.  Two  days  later  Capt.  Church  met  at  Pocasset,  Peter 
Nunnuit.  husband  of  Weetamoo,  widow  of  Alexander,  Philip's  brother. 
Peter  told  Capt.  Church  that  he  had  just  come  from  a  war-dance  at  Mt. 
Hope,  in  which,  Indians  from  all  the  Wampanoag  tribes  had  participated, 
that  war  was  sure,  and  that  Philip  had  been  forced  to  promise  the  young 
warriors  "that  on  the  next  Lord's  Day,  when  the  English  were  gone  to 
meeting,  they  should  level  their  houses  and  from  that  time  forward  kill 
their  cattle."  Nunnuit  also  told  Church  that  Capt.  James  Browne  of 
Wannamoisett  and  Samuel  Gorton  of  Warwick  were  at  Mount  Hope  with 
messages  of  peace  and  arbitration  from  the  Governor  of  Plymouth. 

On  Monday,  June  21,  Gov.  Leverett  of  Massachusetts,  on  informa- 
tion from  Gov.  Winslow  of  Plymouth  as  to  the  attitude  of  King  Philip 
sent  Capt.  Edward  Hutchinson,  Seth  Perry  and  William  Powers  on  a  mis- 
sion to  the  Narragansetts  to  secure  their  neutrality  at  least  in  the  threat- 
ening conditions  of  war.  On  their  way,  they  stopped  at  Providence  and 
secured  Roger  Williams  as  an  associate  to  aid  them  in  their  purpose. 
At  the  conference  at  Narragansett,  Pessacus,  Canonchet  and  Ninigret  gave 
an  apparent  consent  to  neutrality  and  the  commission  returned  to  Boston 
apparently  satisfied  with  the  results.  Mr.  Williams,  knowing  the  Indian 
character,  wrote  to  Winthrop,  on  June  27,  that  their  friendly  answers 


KING  PHILIP'S  WAR  449 

were  "words  of  falsehood  and  treachery,"  as  they  proved  to  be.  Pessacus 
confessed  later  tliat  he  could  not  restrain  the  young  warriors  in  the  fever 
of  a  war  of  revenge  for  the  death  of  Miantonomi.  The  independent 
tribes  of  the  Nipmucs  were  prepared  for  the  war  path.  They  looked  to 
Philip  for  the  command  and  the  initial  act  of  bloodshed  and  they  had  not 
long  to  wait. 

The  attack  on  the  Swansea  settlements  struck  terror  to  the  hearts 
of  all  the  Colonists.  For  a  generation  they  had  cultivated  the  arts  of 
peace.  Capt.  Myles  Standish  slept  at  Duxbury.  The  war  spirit  of  the 
early  day  no  longer  prevailed.  The  scattered  settlements  afforded  no 
mutual  protection  for  the  white  man,  while  their  widely  separated  com- 
munities invited  the  special  methods  of  Indian  warfare.  The  forests  were 
the  home  of  the  Indians,  their  hiding  place,  their  fortress,  darkness  their 
protector,  the  dead  of  night  their  hour  of  bloody  raids,  the  rifle  and  torch 
their  chief  instruments  of  attack,  the  tomahawk  and  scalping  knife  the 
instruments  of  awful  torture  and  murder.  What  wonder  that  strong  men 
shuddered  and  that  women  and  children  spent  the  days  in  constant  watch- 
ing for  an  unseen  foe  and  the  night  in  sleepless  anxiety  lest  that  should 
be  their  last.  Of  the  number  of  warriors  engaged  in  King  Philip's  War, 
various  estimates  have  been  made,  varying  from  3500  to  8000.  Probably 
5000  would  be  a  nearly  correct  figure.  Of  this  number,  the  Wampanoags 
mustered  over  1000,  the  Nipmucs  and  the  Connecticut  river  tribes  1500, 
the  Narragansetts  1500  and  the  Maine  tribes  the  balance.  The  Mohegans 
made  a  friendly  alliance  with  the  English,  and  although  a  weak  tribe,  con- 
tributed a  measure  of  protection  to  the  Connecticut  Colony.  The  rapid 
movements  of  the  Indians  and  the  swift  and  often  complete  destruction 
of  white  settlements  helped  to  magnify  in  the  minds  of  the  Colonists  their 
numbers  and  prowess. 

Following  the  raid  of  June  20,  1675,  on  the  Swansea  settlers  and 
the  massacre  at  the  Bourne  Garrison,  Philip  fled  from  Mt.  Hope  to  Pocas- 
set,  uniting  his  warriors  with  those  of  Weetamoo  to  carry  on  an  active 
offense  in  Plymouth  Colony.  Philip  avoided  engagements  with  the  troops 
but  directed  his  men  to  make  their  attacks  under  cover  of  darkness,  fire 
the  settlers'  cabins,  butcher  the  families  and  escape  to  the  dark  shelters  of 
the  forest  for  protection  by  day.  Seekonk,  Middleboro,  Taunton  and 
Dartmouth  were  visited  and  in  part  destroyed.  At  Mendon  six  were 
slain,  Brookfield  was  wasted  by  fire  and  slaughter.  In  the  autumn  of 
1675,  the  towns  of  the  Connecticut  Valley  received  the  terrific  blows  of 
the  united  Indian  forces.  Whately,  Deerfield,  Northfield,  Springfield, 
Hatfield,  Westfield,  Longmeadow,  Hadley  and  other  settlements  in 
Hampden  county,  were  almost  blotted  out  by  fire  and  massacre.     But 

R  I-I9 


450  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

few  white  men  escaped  the  bloody  carnival  of  death.  As  the  autumn 
advanced  the  war  tragedy  began  in  Maine  and  at  Casco,  Portland,  Saco, 
Winter  Harbor,  Wells,  Cape  Porpoise,  the  Saco  and  Androscoggin  tribes 
attempted  to  wipe  out  the  white  settlements  in  southeastern  seacoast  towns. 

In  February,  1676,  the  towns  of  Lancaster,  Medfield,  Weymouth, 
Marlboro,  were  attacked  by  Philip,  and  later  Sudbury,  Groton,  Concord, 
Chelmsford,  Andover,  Ipswich,  Hingham,  Haverhill,  Bradford,  Wobum 
and  Cambridge  in  Massachusetts,  and  of  New  Hampshire  towns,  Dover, 
Exeter,  Hampton,  Salmon  Falls,  and  others  suffered  more  or  less  from 
the  savage  warfare.  In  several  of  the  Massachusetts  and  New  Hamp- 
shire towns  the  stockades  offered  protection  from  their  foes.  As  the  story 
of  these  incursions  are  exterritorial  to  our  State  history,  an  account  will 
be  found  in  the  town  histories  and  in  a  complete  review  of  King  Philip's 
War  by  several  reputable  historians. 

During  the  autumn  months  of  1675,  it  became  clear  that  the  pledge 
made  to  Mr.  Williams  and  the  Massachusetts  delegates  by  the  Narra- 
gansetts  in  July  had  been  violated,  and  they  were  charged  not  only  with 
harboring  the  women  and  children  of  the  Wampanoags,  but  with  taking 
an  active  part  in  the  battles,  some  of  their  young  warriors  having  returned 
home  with  musket  wounds.  Tradition  has  it  that  when  the  Commis- 
sioners demanded  of  Canonchet  a  surrender  of  the  Wampanoags  he  was 
sheltering,  he  replied  in  a  stern  and  an  angry  temper,  "No,  not  a  Wam- 
panoag,  nor  the  paring  of  a  Wampanoag's  nail."  That  reply  meant  war 
with  the  Narragansetts  and  was  a  broad  challenge  for  the  English  to 
engage  in  it  at  once.  The  Commissioners  met  at  Boston,  November  2, 
and  without  further  negotiations  declared  war  against  the  Narragansetts, 
as  accessories  to  King  Philip  "in  the  present  bloody  outrages  of  the  bar- 
barious  Indians,  in  harboring  the  actors,"  and  in  other  acts  of  hostility  at 
and  about  the  Smith  Garrison  at  Narragansett.  The  2nd  of  December 
was  named  as  a  day  of  humiliation  and  prayer. 

The  United  Colonies  now  resolved  to  equip  an  army  of  a  thousand 
men  to  attack  the  Indians  in  their  winter  fort,  at  Narragansett.  This  act  of 
the  Commissioners  was  clearly  an  invasion  of  the  rights  of  the  Colony  of 
Rhode  Island  as  set  fortli  in  the  Royal  Charter.  By  that  instrument, 
Rhode  Island  could  not  invade  the  natives  inhabiting  other  Colonies,  nor 
could  other  Colonies  molest  the  natives  of  Rhode  Island  without  "the 
consent  of  the  Governor  and  Company  of  our  Colony  of  Rhode  Island 
and  Providence  Plantations."  The  only  justifiable  excuse  for  the  act 
must  be  sought  and  may  be  found  in  the  common  danger  that  threatened 
the  very  existence  of  all  the  Colonies  and  the  questioned  tenure  of  the 
Rhode  Island  Colony  over  the  Narragansett  country. 


KING  PHILIP'S  WAR  451 

As  we  liavc  already  seen,  the  other  New  England  Colonies,  Connec- 
ticut, Massachusetts  and  Plymouth,  had  laid  claim  to  a  part  or  the  whole  of 
the  Narragansett  country,  including  Warwick  as  far  north  as  Providence 
Plantations  and  ten  years  later  that  section  was  made  into  a  separate 
Colony  under  the  authority  of  the  King.  However  that  may  be,  Colo- 
nial courtesy  was  not  regarded  in  the  war  plans  of  the  other  Colonies  and 
Mr.  Williams'  influence  or  service  was  not  called  for  in  the  operations 
against  the  Narragansetts.  Troops  were  raised  in  Massachusetts,  Plym- 
outh and  Connecticut  Colonies,  and,  early  in  December,  the  whole  army, 
consisting  of  thirteen  companies  of  infantry  and  one  of  cavalry,  was 
placed  under  the  command  of  Governor  Josiah  Winslow,  of  Plymouth 
Colony,  son  of  a  former  Governor,  Edward  Winslow.  The  Colonial  sub- 
officers  were  Major  Samuel  Appleton,  of  Boston ;  Major  William  Brad- 
ford, of  Plymouth,  and  Major  Robert  Treat,  of  Connecticut.  Colonel 
Benjamin  Church  acted  as  aide  to  Governor  Winslow,  volunteering  his 
services  for  the  Rhode  Island  campaign.  Governor  Winslow  took  com- 
mand of  the  combined  forces  at  Dedham,  Massachusetts,  December  9, 
1675.  Massachusetts  furnished  five  hundred  and  seventy-five  soldiers, 
including  Cajjtain  Prentice's  troop  of  seventy-five  horse.  The  objective 
of  this  military  e.xpedition  was  the  capture  of  the  Narragansett  fort  and 
the  conquest  of  the  tribe.  Governor  Winslow  promised  the  troops  a 
gratuity  in  land  in  addition  to  their  pay  for  their  services  in  the  Narra- 
gansett campaign.  The  whole  body  of  the  army  set  out  from  Dedham, 
Governor  Winslow  in  command,  December  9,  and  pitched  their  camp  at 
night  at  Woodcock's  Garrison,  in  Attleboro.  On  December  10  the  troops 
marched  to  Seekonk,  where  they  found  Richard  Smith's  vessel  in  the 
Pawtucket  River,  which  had  brought  their  provisions,  ammunition,  and 
other  supplies  by  water.  A  part  of  the  troops  with  Governor  Winslow  and 
Captain  Church  as  guide  sailed  the  next  day  for  the  Narragansett  country 
to  make  their  camp  at  Smith's  Garrison.  The  remainder  of  the  troops 
ferried  the  river  to  Providence,  crossed  the  Pawtuxet  into  Warwick  in 
the  hope  of  capturing  Pumham,  sachem  of  Shawomet.  Owing  to  a  blun- 
der of  the  scouts  they  failed  of  their  purpose.  On  December  13  the  troops 
marching  from  Providence,  reached  Smith's  Garrison,  where  they  joined 
the  party  that  had  reached  there  by  water  and  all  went  into  camp. 

The  Colonial  troops  were  here  re-enforced  by  recruits  from  Rhode 
Island,  as  the  common  and  extreme  danger  had  aroused  the  white  settlers 
on  the  Bay,  though  the  government  took  no  direct  action,  leaving  all  to  the 
Council  of  War  of  the  Colony.  Governor  Winslow  set  the  troops  at 
work  in  scouring  the  country  to  discover  and  slay  or  capture  Indians  and 
destroy  wigwams.  On  the  14th  the  troops  captured  or  slew  about  an 
hundred  Indians  and  destroyed  one  hundred  and  fifty  wigwams  within 
a  radius  of  fifteen  miles  of  the  garrison.    On  the  15th  of  December,  the 


452  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

first  overt  act  of  Indian  hostility  occurred  when  a  party  of  Narragansetts, 
on  their  way  to  Canonicus'  Fort,  attacked  the  Jireh  Bull  Garrison  at  Petta- 
quamscut,  forced  a  passage  and  slew  fifteen  men  of  the  force,  only  two 
making  their  escape.  The  Connecticut  troops,  on  their  way  from  Ston- 
ington  to  join  the  allies  at  Smith's  Garrison,  passed  the  garrison  at  Petta- 
quamscut  the  day  after  the  massacre  and  joined  Governor  Winslow's 
command  on  the  i8th.  This  new  force  was  made  up  of  three  hundred 
Englishmen  and  one  hundred  friendly  Mohegans.  The  i8th  of  December 
was  spent  in  perfecting  plans  for  an  immediate  advance  on  the  Narra- 
gansett  forces  at  the  Fort  located  on  a  slight  eminence  in  the  Great  Swamp, 
about  fifteen  miles  west  of  the  Smith  Garrison.  That  night  the  troops 
encamped  in  the  open  air.  The  weather  was  bitter  cold  and  the  men  were 
almost  smothered  in  a  storm  of  snow.  At  the  dawn  of  the  Sabbath, 
December  19,  the  Colonials,  a  thousand  and  more  strong,  under  command 
of  Governor  Josiah  Winslow,  accompanied  by  Captain  Benjamin  Church, 
of  Little  Compton,  as  military  advisor,  and  guided  by  Peter  Freeman,  a 
captive  Indian,  began  their  difficult  march  along  the  Indian  trail  leading 
to  the  Great  Swamp.  The  fresh  snow,  ankle  deep,  concealed  the  difficul- 
ties of  the  tramp  through  the  forests,  so  that  it  was  one  o'clock  of  the 
afternoon  when  they  reached  the  borders  of  the  swamp  where  they  were 
told  3500  Indian  warriors  were  waiting  the  attack  of  the  ILnglish.  The 
troops  were  weary  from  the  long  march  through  the  snow,  but  refreshed 
by  food  and  a  plentiful  supply  of  "strong  water,"  they  became  hot  for 
the  fight  and  led  by  a  renegade  savage,  they  pursued  the  retreating  red 
men  to  their  fort,  located  on  a  small  island  in  the  midst  of  a  great  forest. 
It  included  several  acres  of  slightly  elevated  land,  protected  by  heavy 
palisades  and  compassed  with  a  hedge,  a  rod  thick.  The  principal  en- 
trance to  the  fort  was  by  a  log  bridge,  which  was  protected  by  numerous 
flankers  commanding  the  approaches  with  cross  fires.  The  Massachu- 
setts troops  in  advance,  quickly  discovered  the  one  weak  point  in  the  fort, 
where  an  unfinished  stockade,  unprotected  by  abattis  had  been  filled  in 
with  a  large  tree.  "Wherefor  the  Providence  of  Almighty  God,"  says 
Hibbard,  "is  the  more  to  be  acknowledged.  *  *  *  So  it  now  directs 
our  forces'  upon  that  side  of  the  fort  where  they  might  only  enter."  The 
troops  rushed  forward,  charging  the  entrance  but  were  met  with  a  deadly 
fire,  front  and  flank.  Captains  Johnson,  Davenport  and  Gardiner  fell 
dead  at  the  entrance,  with  many  of  their  men.  The  men  drew  back  from 
the  murderous  fire  until  Major  Appleton,  leading  a  new  squad  of  Massa- 
chusetts men  dashed  forward  with  the  shout,  "They  run,  they  run,"  when 
the  whole  body,  in  a  wild  rush,  stormed  the  entrance  and  drove  the  Indians 
out  of  the  flankers,  the  Connecticut  troops,  in  thejr  way  through  the 
breach,  losing  four  brave  captains.  Gallop,  Marshall,  Seeley  and  Mason, 


KING  PHILIP'S  WAR  453 

The  fight  was  now  at  close  range  within  the  fort  and  the  issue  seemed 
in  doubt,  until  an  English  torch  set  fire  to  the  wigwams  and  the  wind 
swept  a  fire  of  death  across  the  fort.  Five  hundred  wigwams,  stores  of 
corn  and  provisions,  clothing,  utensils  and  many  men,  women  and  child- 
ren perished  in  the  flames,  while  three  hundred  warriors  were  slain  and 
twice  that  number  of  Indians  made  captive.  Canonchet,  the  chief  sachem 
of  the  tribe,  son  of  the  great  Miantonomi,  who  was  in  command  of  the 
garrison,  retreated  with  his  defeated  braves  to  the  forest,  where  they 
continued  their  fire  on  the  English  troops  within  and  without  the  fort. 
Captain  Church  was  wounded  late  in  the  fight. 

Darkness  coming  on.  Governor  Winslow  gathered  the  surviving  com- 
manders about  him  and  by  the  light  of  the  burning  wigwams  held  a  council 
to  decide  on  camping  in  the  fort  or  returning  with  their  dead  and  wounded 
to  the  Smith  Garrison.  Six  captains  and  more  than  twenty  comrades 
were  dead  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  wounded  men  were  on  their  hands, 
demanding  tender  care.  In  the  long  debate,  Captain  Church  strongly 
urged  the  troops  to  remain  at  the  fort,  where  the  wounded  could  be 
cared  for  and  the  weary  find  food  and  rest,  for  the  night  at  least.  On 
the  other  hand  it  was  urged  that  food  and  ammunition  were  well  nigh 
spent,  tliat  the  Narragansetts,  scattered  in  the  forests,  might  return  to 
attack  them  in  the  morning,  and  that  their  wounded  men  would  be  safer 
in  a  march  to  the  garrison,  than  to  risk  an  Indian  ambuscade,  and  the  final 
decision  was  that  it  was  safer  and  wiser  to  return. 

The  nineteenth  of  December,  1675,  will  stand  for  all  time  as  the  most 
memorable,  the  most  heroic  day  in  New  England  history.  The  Narra- 
gansetts were  the  strongest  of  the  Indian  tribes  of  this  section  and  as 
warriors  had  high  renown.  Canonchet,  their  chief  sachem,  had  made  a 
bold  resolve  to  fight  and  dared  the  English  to  the  conflict  of  arms.  The 
English  accepted  the  challenge  and  sent  a  thousand  well  armed  men,  the 
flower  of  the  Colonies,  under  the  command  of  the  Governor  of  Plymouth 
Colony,  guided  and  advised  by  the  great  Indian  fighter.  Captain  Benjamin 
Church,  to  discover  and  fight  their  foe.  At  Smith's  Garrison,  at  Narra- 
gansett.  General  Winslow  learned  that  the  enemy  had  chosen  the  great 
swamp  fort  as  their  defense,  where  was  gathered  a  strong  force  under 
Canonchet  and  King  Philip.  The  Pilgrim  leader  chose  the  Sabbath  as 
the  day  of  battle  and,  at  early  dawn,  the  Colonial  troops,  after  a  sleepless 
night,  under  a  blanket  of  snow,  took  up  the  forest  trail  to  the  Indian 
camp,  fifteen  miles  westward.  The  story  of  the  Great  Swamp  Fight  for 
four  hours  on  that  fateful  Sunday  afternoon  is  too  tragic  to  attempt 
details.  It  was  a  struggle  for  life  on  the  part  of  both.  Defeat  meant 
death  to  one.     The  fate  of  the  New  England  Colonies  hung  in  the  trem- 


454  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

bling  balances.  Civilized  and  savage  fought  with  the  fury  of  fiends.  No 
imagirtation  can  conceive,  no  pen  describe  the  scenes  on  that  field  of  car- 
nage and  death.  The  heroic  charge,  the  slaughter  and  repulse ;  a  second 
brave  rush  to  meet  a  foe  fired  with  revengeful  passion,  dealing  death 
with  every  instrument  of  Indian  warfare;  the  savage  yells;  the  Amazon- 
ian warriors  vying  with  the  men  in  defence  of  children  and  home;  the 
final  deadly  assault,  the  alliance  of  blazing  wigwams  as  instruments  of 
awful  destruction,  the  death  grapple,  the  fall  of  captains  and  men  and 
brave  warriors  on  one  mound  of  death,  were  parts  of  the  awful  scene 
enacted  on  Rhode  Island  soil,  between  noon  and  dusk  of  that  cold  winter 
day.  It  was  the  day  of  conflict,  the  day  of  salvation  for  New  England. 
The  deed  was  recorded  in  letters  of  blood  and  fire.  The  English  lost 
six  captains  and  the  killed  and  wounded  numbered  over  two  hundred 
brave  men.  The  Indian  losses  were  unknown,  but  by  report  exceeded 
four  hundred  killed  including  one  sachem  and  seven  hundred  more  dying 
of  their  wounds.  The  pathos  of  the  tragedy  follows.  The  gloom  of 
night  succeeds  and  under  cover  of  darkness,  the  patriot  army,  weary  from 
the  morning  march  to  the  battlefield,  wearied  to  the  extreme  by  the  super- 
human struggle  of  four  hours  of  dreadful  conflict,  now  decides  to  retrace 
the  morning  trail  to  the  Garrison  at  Narragansett.  Such  a  task  was  im- 
fMDssible  for  mortals ;  but  it  must  be  done.  Twenty  corpses  of  dead  com- 
rades must  be  left  as  food  for  Indian  orgies.  The  wounded  numbering 
one  hundred  and  fifty,  with  wounds  still  bleeding  and  undressed,  carried 
on  litters  made  of  muskets  and  green  saplings,  three  hundred  Indian 
prisoners,  with  the  remnant  of  Gen.  Winslow's  command,  filed  out  of  the 
vanquished  Indian  fort  into  the  woods  of  a  stormy  night,  their  path  lighted 
for  three  miles,  says  the  old  Indian  chronicle,  by  the  flames  of  the  burn- 
ing wigwams.  It  was  a  terrible  march  of  triumph  and  of  death.  A  driv- 
ing snow  storm,  cold  and  piercing,  blinded  their  way.  They  stumbled 
over  logs  that  lay  across  their  path,  crossed  shallow  streams  with  coatings 
of  thin  ice,  and  waded  through  drifting  snow,  silent,  save  as  the  awful 
silence  was  broken  by  the  moans  of  the  suffering  and  the  death  pangs 
of  the  dying, — twenty-two  of  whom  breathed  their  last  on  that  historic 
trail.  Many  lost  their  way  and  wandered  all  night  in  the  storm,  while 
Governor  Winslovv  and  forty  men  brought  up  the  rear  guard  at  the  Gar- 
rison, at  seven  o'clock,  on  the  morning  of  the  twentieth  of  December, 
1675.  "The  Great  Grave"  in  the  rear  of  the  Garrison  received  the  mortal 
remains  of  forty  soldiers  of  the  patriot  army,  whose  doom  was  the 
eloquent  testimony  to  their  bravery  in  a  struggle,  short,  sharp,  decisive, 
that  saved  the  New  England  Colonies  from  utter  destruction.  To  each 
hero  Byron's  lines  apply  : 


KING  PHILIP'S  WAR  455 

"We  tell  thy  doom  without  a  sigh 
For  thou  art  Freedom's  now  and  Fame's, — 
One  of  the  few,  the  immortal  names 
That  was  not  born  to  die." 

In  the  spring  of  1676,  the  Narragansetts,  recovering  in  a  measure 
from  the  blow  intlicted  in  the  Oeat  S\vam[)  Fight,  again  took  the  war 
path,  under  their  great  chief,  Canonchet,  making  deadly  raids  on  Massa- 
chusetts and  riymoiith  towns.  The  duty  of  leading  in  the  pursuit  of  the 
Narragansetts  fell  to  Captain  Michael  Pierce,  of  Scituate,  Massachusetts, 
who  had  won  a  military  record  as  a  captain  of  the  Plymouth  Colony  Mil- 
itia and  participated  with  the  Plymouth  men  in  the  bloody  fight  at  Narra- 
gansett,  December  19,  1675.  Early  in  the  year  Captain  Pierce  made  his 
will,  writing  in  a  bold  hand,  "Being  now  by  the  appointment  of  God,  going 
out  to  war  against  the  Indians,  doe  make  this  my  last  will  and  testament." 

Acting  under  orders  from  Plymouth  Colony,  Captain  Pierce  with  a 
company  of  about  fifty  English  and  twenty  friendly  Indians  started  in 
pursuit  of  the  Narragansetts,  who  were  making  trouble  for  the  settlers 
along  the  Pawtucket  river.  From  Rehoboth,  now  East  Providence,  on 
the  25th  of  March,  Captain  Pierce  sallied  forth  with  a  small  party  of  men 
in  search  of  his  enemy,  whom  he  found  in  considerable  numbers,  and 
making  an  attack,  inflicted  severe  losses,  without  any  injury  to  his  own 
men.  Learning  that  a  large  band  of  Indian  warriors  was  in  catnp  near 
or  at  Quinsnecket,  probably  under  Canonchet,  Captain  Pierce,  not  fearing 
and  ]irobably  not  anticipating  an  ambuscade,  resolved  on  an  advance  on 
Sunday,  March  2fy,  with  a  force  of  about  sixty  English  and  twenty 
Indians. 

Before  starting  out  on  his  reconnaissance,  Captain  Pierce  sent  a  mes- 
senger to  Providence  for  troops  to  assist  him  at  Central  Falls,  on  the 
Pawtucket  river, — but  no  soldiers  came.  Marching  from  Rehoboth  (now 
Rumford,  Rhode  Island)  about  three  miles  to  the  north.  Captain  Pierce 
came  to  a  ravine  on  the  east  bank  of  the  river,  where  the  river  was  easily 
forded.  Looking  across  the  river,  Captain  Pierce  saw  a  number  of  In- 
dians limping  about  and  judged  them  to  be  wounded  men  of  the  fight 
the  day  before,  as  they  fled  into  the  woods  on  discovery.  It  is  probable 
that  a  number  of  the  men  crossed  the  river,  following  the  decoys  on  the 
western  bank.  Captain  Pierce  then  led  the  main  body  of  his  company 
into  the  ravine  and  was  about  to  ford  the  stream,  wlien  suddenly  the  air 
was  rent  with  savage  yells,  and  springing  from  their  hiding  on  the  com- 
manding hills,  the  Narragansetts,  numbering  several  hundreds,  possibly 
a  thousand  warriors,  rushed  down  on  the  small  band  of  English,  letting 
fly  their  deadly  arrows  and  musket  fire  upon  the  Colonials.  Captain  Pierce 
saw  at  once  that  his  only  hope  lay  in  crossing  the  river  to  a  partially 


4S6  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

wooded  plain  or  river  bottom,  flanked  on  the  west  by  low  hills,  covered 
with  a  dense  forest.  Here  he  planned  to  make  his  defence  against  the 
enemy  on  his  rear,  now  following  him  across  the  river,  when,  to  his  great 
dismay,  he  discovered  a  band  of  Indian  warriors  swarming  down  from 
the  foot  hills,  in  front  of  him.  The  order  of  battle  as  related  by  an  ancient 
chronicle,  was  as  follows  : 

"Captain  Pierce  cast  his  sixty-three  English  and  twenty  Indians  into 
a  ring,  and  six  fought  back  to  back,  and  were  double,  double  distance  all 
in  one  ring,  whilst  the  Indians  were  as  thick  as  they  could  stand  thirty 
deep."  Resolved  to  sell  their  lives  at  the  greatest  cost  to  their  enemies, 
the  Colonials  stood  their  ground,  with  thinning  ranks,  for  nearly  two 
hours,  keeping  the  enemy  at  musket  range  distance.  Captain  Pierce  fell 
early  in  the  fight.  As  their  numbers  lessen  the  savages  close  in  upon  the 
ill-fated  remnant  and  tomahawks  and  muskets  end  the  tragic  strife  and 
less  than  twenty  attempt  escape  by  flight.  Nine  of  the  Pierce  band  were 
made  captive  and  slain  on  the  border  of  Indian  Camp  Swamp  at  a  place 
known  as  Nine  Men's  Misery,  in  the  town  of  Cumberland.  Eight  Eng- 
lish and  a  few  friendly  Indians  escaped  to  tell  the  story  of  the  bloody 
massacre.  The  Indian  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  was  heavy,  the  e.stimates 
ranging  from  one  hundred  to  three  hundred  warriors.  The  site  of  the 
battle-field  of  Pierce's  Fight  is  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Blackstone  river, 
north  of  the  bridge  of  the  New  York  and  New  Haven  Railroad,  at  Cen- 
tral Falls.    A  boulder  monument  marks  the  field  of  the  fight. 

The  capture  and  death  of  Canonchet  a  few  days  later  constitute  one 
of  the  most  thrilling  events  of  Philip's  War.  On  the  30th  of  March, 
1676,  Major  Edward  Palmer,  of  Connecticut,  in  command  of  the  forces 
operating  in  the  Narragansett  country  sent  out  a  force  of  seventy-nine 
English  under  Captain  George  Denison  and  a  mixed  force  of  Niantics, 
Pequots  and  Mohegans,  under  Oneko,  son  of  Uncas,  to  discover  and 
engage  Canonchet  and  his  warriors,  supposed  to  lie  in  hiding  at  Ouins- 
nicket.  Reaching  the  Pawtucket  river  on  the  3rd  of  April,  Captain  Den- 
ison was  told  by  a  captive  squaw  that  Canonchet  was  encamped  nearby. 
Moving  rapidly  up  the  river  bank  the  troops  came  upon  two  Narragan- 
sett sentinels  on  the  crest  of  a  small  hill,  who  fled  down  the  hill,  giving 
the  alarm  to  Canonchet  and  a  few  of  his  men,  lying  at  ease  on  the  hill- 
side. A  careful  study  of  all  the  historic  records  and  a  survey  of  the 
topography  of  the  land  slopes  on  the  Blackstone  (Pawtucket)  river 
satisfies  me  that  the  hill  slope,  where  Canonchet  was  captured,  is  at 
west  Lonsdale,  about  a  mile  east  of  the  Quinsnicket  camp  of  the  Narra- 
gansetts,  and  north  and  west  of  the  village.  The  hill  to  the  river  bank 
is  intersected  by  the  Rhode  Island  branch  of  the  Grand  Trunk  Railroad. 


KING  PHILIP'S  WAR  457 

A  genera!  alarm  sent  the  savage  warriors  flying  from  their  foe. 
Canonchet  ran  swiftly  around  the  hill,  but.  seeing  the  Niantics  in  close 
pursuit,  he  threw  off  his  blanket,  then  his  silver  trimmed  coat  and  the 
royal  belt  of  wampum,  by  which  his  Indian  pursuers  discovered  his  rank 
as  chief  sachem.  Canonchet's  only  way  of  escape  was  to  flee  across  the 
Pawtucket,  but  as  he  rushed  into  the  stream,  his  foot  slipped  and  falling 
into  the  water  he  wet  the  priming  of  his  gun.  Before  he  could  recover 
himself  he  was  seized  by  an  Indian  of  Denison's  company  and  facing  his 
foes  made  no  resistance  to  his  captors.  Robert  Stanton,  a  young  soldier, 
was  the  first  of  the  whites  to  salute  the  captive  sachem.  In  answer  to  a 
question,  Canonchet  replied  with  savage  dignity,  "You  much  child,  no 
understand  matters  of  war;  let  your  chief  come;  him  I  will  answer." 

Many  Indians  were  captured,  their  flight  being  hindered  by  the  Paw- 
tucket river,  too  deep  for  fording.  Forty-three  of  the  most  stalwart 
braves  were  slain  by  the  river  side,  after  which  the  victors  set  out  with 
Canonchet  as  their  chief  prize  of  war,  for  Stonington.  On  the  march, 
Canonchet  was  offered  his  life  if  he  would  persuade  his  tribe  to  make 
peace,  but  he  scornfully  refused,  saying  that  his  death  would  not  end  the 
war.  .\sked  "why  he  did  foment  the  war?"  his  only  answer  was  "that 
he  was  born  a  prince  and  if  princes  came  to  speak  with  him,  he  would 
answer."  He  told  his  captors  that  he  would  rather  die  than  be  a  prisoner 
and  asked  that  Oncko  might  be  chosen  to  put  him  to  death,  as  he  was 
an  Indian  of  equal  rank.  Fearing  that  he  might  escape  if  held  a  captive, 
or  later  be  released,  it  was  decided  by  the  soldiers  that  Canonchet  should 
be  shot  by  a  sachem  of  his  own  rank.  Following  the  death  sentence,  the 
great  sachem  of  the  Narragansetts  was  shot  by  Oneko,  a  Pequot,  was 
beheaded  by  a  young  sachem  of  the  Mohegans  and  another  sachem  of  the 
Niantics  built  the  fire  that  cremated  his  body,  while  his  head  was  sent  to 
the  English  Council  of  War  at  Hartford  as  a  token  of  the  love  and  fidelity 
of  the  Indian  allies. 

Canonchet's  last  words  on  learning  his  sentence  were,  "I  like  it  well. 
I  shall  die  before  my  heart  is  soft  or  I  have  spoken  imworthy  words." 
The  historian  Hubbard  calls  Canonchet  "a  most  perfidious  villain,"  "a 
damned  wretch,"  "he  was  as  good  as  his  word,  acting  herein  as  by  a 
Pythagorean  metamorphosis.  Some  old  Roman  ghost  had  possessed  the 
body  of  this  western  pagan,  and  like  Attilius  Regulus  he  would  not  accept 
his  own  life  when  it  was  tendered  to  him  upon  that  low  compliance  with 
the  English." 

Well  done,  historian  Hubbard,  you  have  placed  Canonchet's  name 
on  the  roll  of  the  world's  immortals,  linking  it  with  the  greatest  of  Roman 
generals,  Marcus  Atilius  Regains,  who  would  not  betray  his  country  to 
save  his  life.     Time,  the  healer  of  wrongs,  has  wiped  out  the  impious 


458  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

anathemas  pronounced  on  the  two  great  chiefs,  Miantonomi  and  his  son 
Canonchet.  "The  deep  damnation  of  their  taking  off"  has  also  found 
an  oblivion  in  the  later  judgments  of  men.  To-day,  the  Sons  of  Pilgrims 
and  Puritans  unite  in  honoring  those  chiefs  of  a  savage  race;  who  nursed 
and  nurtured  the  infant  English  settlements;  who  gave  lands  for  their 
towns,  and  protection  to  their  industries ;  who  kept  faith  with  men  of 
faith.  They  welcomed  Williams  and  Vane,  Clarke  and  Coddington, 
Brown  and  Willett,  and  all  our  founders  with  a  hearty  "What  Cheer," 
and  continued  that  cordiality  until  they  read  in  the  omens  of  earth  and 
sky  the  dreadful  words, — Extermination — Death.  The  Indians  of  New 
England  fought  for  family,  home  and  native  land,  and  for  these  they 
died.  What  less  could  they  have  done?  What  more? 
Arnold  says  of  Canonchet : 

His  conduct  on  this  occasion  (at  his  death)  has  been  justly  compared 
with  that  of  Regulus  before  the  Roman  Senate,  than  which  the  chronicles 
of  time  present  but  one  sublimer  scene.  A  higher  type  of  manly  character, 
more  loftiness  of  spirit  or  dignity  of  action,  the  qualities  that  make  heroes 
of  men,  and  once  made  demi-gods  of  heroes,  than  are  found  in  this 
western  savage,  may  be  sought  in  vain  among  the  records  of  pagan  hero- 
ism or  of  Christian  fortitude. 

The  monument  that  shall  one  day  rise  in  memory  of  Canonchet, 
alongside  one  to  the  great  Miantonomi,  his  father,  demands  no  loftier  in- 
scription— Canonchet,  friend,  benefactor,  protector,  warrior,  hero,  martyr. 

The  Narragansctt  Swamp  Fight  terrorized  all  the  white  people  of 
the  Narragansett  Bay  region,  most  of  whom  fled  to  Newport  for  pro- 
tection, where  all  the  Rhode  Island  militia  had  been  stationed  by  Gov- 
ernor Coddington  for  the  best  protection  of  the  mainland  towns.  The 
inhabitants  of  Warwick,  leaving  only  a  small  garrison  in  the  Greene  Stone 
Castle,  removed  bodily  to  Aquidneck  and  there  kept  up  their  town  organ- 
ization for  fifteen  months,  until  the  war  was  over.  The  women  and  child- 
ren of  Providence  and  all  the  men,  except  about  thirty,  fled  to  the  island. 
The  Providence  town  records  give  a  list  of  names  of  twenty-seven  men 
"who  staid  and  went  not  away." 

The  Island  of  Aquidneck  was  placed  under  martial  law  and  a  service 
of  armed  boats  kept  a  constant  patrol  around  it.  Providence  had  two 
protected  stations.  One  was  the  fort  on  Stampers  Hill,  where  Roger  Wil- 
liams and  a  body  of  townsmen  found  protection.  The  other  was  the  garri- 
son house  of  William  Field,  on  South  Main  street  near  the  foot  of  Hop- 
kins street,  where  Captain  Arthur  Fenner  with  the  other  men  were  posted. 
During  February  and  March,  1676,  the  war  was  carried  on  in  Massa- 
chusetts,  usually   with    victories   by   the   Indians.      Canonchet    had   now 


KING  PHILIP'S  WAR  459 

joined  Philip  in  active  warfare.  On  March  i6,  Warwick  was  attacked, 
one  man  killed  and  every  house  burned  except  the  Greene  Stone  Garrison. 
On  March  29,  the  Indians  made  an  attack  on  Providence,  after  having 
burned  all  the  houses  on  Seekonk  Plains  except  the  garrison  and  one 
other  house.  On  the  approach  of  the  Indians  to  Providence  from  the 
direction  of  Quinsnickct,  their  usual  rendezvous,  Mr.  Williams  went 
across  the  Wapwaysit  bridge  to  meet  them,  alone  and  unarmed.  He  tried 
to  persuade  them  to  make  peace  as  the  English  were  too  strong  for  them 
to  contend  with.  Their  reply  was:  "Well,  let  them  come  on,  we  are 
ready  for  them,  but  as  for  you,  brother  Williams,  you  are  a  good  man ; 
you  have  been  kind  to  us  for  many  years ;  not  a  hair  on  your  head  shall 
be  touched."  Mr.  Williams,  as  captain  of  the  train  band,  returned  to  his 
fort  on  the  hill,  neither  garrison  house  was  attacked  and  as  the  records 
state,  all  but  five  houses  were  burned.  Not  a  man  was  killed,  wounded  or 
taken  captive  at  Providence,  and  only  one  was  killed  at  Seekonk  when 
that  town  was  burned.  This  man  was  an  Irishman  named  Robert  Beers, 
who  thought  his  Bible  would  be  a  sure  protection  of  himself  and  his 
house.  While  reading  his  Bible,  in  plain  sight  of  the  enemy,  he  was  shot 
and  his  house  burned.  At  Providence,  the  house  and  the  gristmill  of 
John  Smith  were  burned  and  the  records  of  the  town,  of  which  Smith  was 
town  clerk,  were  saved  by  being  thrown  out  of  a  window  into  the  mill- 
pond.  A  mystery  has  always  surrounded  the  remarkable  preservation  of 
the  records,  when  one  remembers  that  every  house  had  been  deserted  and 
the  men  had  taken  refuge  in  the  two  garrisons.  Did  the  Indians,  seeing 
the  book  of  unusual  size  and  appearance,  throw  it  into  the  pond  in  token 
of  their  high  regard  for  Roger  Williams?  To  me  this  seems  possible.  So 
complete  was  the  destruction  of  the  settlers'  homes  that  from  Study  Hill, 
Blackstone's  old  home,  to  Stonington,  the  only  houses  standing  were  the 
Smith  Garrison,  the  Greene  Castle  in  Warwick  and  the  few  dwellings  in 
Providence,  not  exceeding  eight  in  all.  The  people  had  fled  to  Hartford, 
to  Aquidneck  and  to  Boston.  Rev.  John  Myles,  of  Swansea,  and  his 
people  took  refuge  in  Boston.  The  Browns  and  Willetts  at  Wannamoisett 
were  shielded  by  friendly  relations  with  the  Wampanoags,  although 
Andrew  Willett  was  shot  in  the  doorway  of  his  father's  house  at  Wanna- 
moisett by  a  strange  Indian.  When  the  head  of  young  Willett  was  shown 
to  Philip  he  was  inconsolable  that  a  son  of  his  father's  friend  had  been 
slain. 

Pumham,  of  Pawtuxet,  was  a  wiley  Indian  warrior,  who  avoided 
capture  by  Governor  Winslow's  forces  in  December,  1675,  but  was  sur- 
prised at  Dedham,  Massachusetts,  July  27,  with  a  handful  of  warriors, 
most  of  whom  were  his  kinsfolk.  He  asked  no  quarter  and  gave  none, 
for,  being  mortally  wounded  in  the  back  and  unable  to  stand,  he  fought 


46o  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

with  his  hatchet  and  lying  in  the  bushes  caught  a  Colonial,  whom  he 
would  have  slain,  had  not  another  Colonial  come  to  his  assistance.  "His 
son,"  says  Hubbard,  "was  a  likely  youth  and  one  whose  countenance 
would  have  besought  favor  for  him  had  he  not  belonged  to  so  barbarous 
and  bloody  an  Indian  as  his  father  was."  Fifteen  of  Pumham's  band 
were  slain  with  their  chief  and  thirty-four  were  captured. 

Captain  Benjamin  Cliurch,  of  Little  Compton,  received  his  commis- 
sion as  chief  in  command  of  Plymouth  Colony  troops  on  the  25th  of 
July,  1676,  and  at  once  took  the  war-path  to  capture  King  Philip.  At  that 
time,  Philip  was  terrorizing  the  settlers  at  Middleboro,  Norton,  Taunton 
and  Rehoboth,  losing  to  Captain  Church,  in  captives,  his  uncle,  Akkom- 
poin,  his  wife.  Woolonekanuske  and  his  son,  nine  years  old.  The  son 
was  soon  sold  into  slavery  to  West  India  planters,  and  with  the  speedy 
death  by  drowning  in  the  Taunton  river  of  Weetanioo,  the  widow  of 
Philip's  brother,  the  family  of  Massasoit  had  been  wiped  out,  save  the 
lonely  and  heartbroken  sachem.  Church,  hot  in  pursuit  of  Philip,  lost 
the  trail  in  Pocasset,  and  crossing  the  Sakonet  river  to  Aquidneck  to  call 
on  his  wife  at  Major  Sanford's,  he  was  met  by  two  horsemen  who  came 
to  tell  him  that  King  Philip  was  at  that  moment  at  Mt.  Hope,  his  royal 
headquarters  at  Bristol.  Captain  Church  set  out  at  once  to  capture  Philip, 
crossed  Bristol  Ferry  about  midnight  of  August  12,  surrounded  the 
swamp  where  the  sachem  was  hiding,  with  a  small  force  of  English  and 
Indians,  under  Captain  Cioulding.  At  daybreak,  crawling  along  on  their 
bellies,  the  Captain  came  suddenly  upon  Philip,  who,  seizing  his  powder 
horn  and  gun  and  clad  in  his  moccasins  and  small  breeches  plunged  at 
once  into  the  swamp,  coming  directly  in  his  flight  upon  an  Indian  of 
Church's  band,  named  Alderman,  who  fired  two  shots,  one  bullet  piercing 
his  heart,  and  Philip  fell  upon  his  face  in  the  mirey  swamp,  a  dead 
sachem.  The  shout  of  Anavvon  was  heard,  "lootash,  lootash" — "Stand 
and  fight,"  but  the  greater  part  fled,  five  only  of  Philip's  men  being  killed. 

The  dreadful  temper  of  the  times  is  seen  in  the  treatment  of  the  body 
of  King  Philip.  His  head  was  cut  ofif  and  carried  through  the  streets  of 
Plymouth  on  the  17th  of  August.  It  was  then  set  upon  a  pole  where  it 
remained  till  1700,  as  an  object  lesson  of  the  Indian  War,  when  Dr. 
Mather  (Increase),  upon  an  occasion  "took  ofif  the  jaw  from  the  exposed 
skull  of  that  blasphemous  leviathan."  His  body  was  quartered  and  hung 
upon  four  trees,  as  food  for  birds,  while  a  hand  given  to  the  Sakonet 
Indian  who  shot  him,  was  preserved  in  rum  and  shown  through  the  New 
England  settlements.  A  few  days  later,  Anawon,  Philip's  lieutenant,  was 
followed  and  captured  in  his  hiding  place,  in  Squannakonk  Swamp  in 
Rehoboth,  was  taken  to  Plymouth  and  there  executed. 


KING  PHILIP'S  WAR  461 

The  death  of  tlie  great  sachems  of  the  leading  tribes  did  not  end 
Phihp's  War,  which  continued  in  various  parts  of  New  England,  to  the 
great  disturbance  of  the  white  settlers,  into  1678.  With  the  loss  of 
Canonchet  and  Philip,  the  Narragansetts  and  the  Wampanoags,  however, 
lost  heart  and  hope.  A  thousand  Colonials  had  been  slain  or  made  captive 
and  other  thousands  carried  to  their  graves  the  wounds  of  Indian  arrows 
and  bullets.  But  the  Indian  losses  in  life  and  in  captivity  were  ten  times 
greater  than  befell  the  settlers.  The  chiefs  of  the  warriors,  as  fast  as 
captured,  were  executed  while  lesser  captives  were  sold  into  domestic  or 
foreign  slavery.  At  the  town-meeting  of  Providence  in  June,  1676, 
Indian  captives  were  sold  as  slaves  for  periods  of  from  seven  to  twenty- 
five  years,  according  to  age.  All  captives  under  five  years  were  to  "serve 
till  thirty :"  all  above  thirty,  seven  years.  Mr.  Williams  was  chairman  of 
the  committee  on  the  Indian  sale,  the  proceeds  of  which  were  divided 
among  the  towns-people.  Rhode  Island  was  the  only  Colony  that  adopted 
the  family  apprenticeship  plan,  and  it  is  to  the  credit  of  the  Colony  that 
not  one  captive  was  sold  without  her  bounds,  while  in  the  other  Colonies, 
captive  Indians  were  sent  abroad  and  sold  into  hopeless  bondage  in  the 
companionship  of  the  negro  slaves  from  Africa  and  the  isles  of  the  sea. 
The  Narragansetts  and  the  Wampanoags  were  thoroughly  exterminated. 
Not  a  representative  of  the  Narragansetts,  in  later  years,  could  be  found 
to  furnish  a  figurehead  for  the  tribe  and  Ninigret,  a  Niantic,  was  chosen 
to  masquerade  as  one  of  the  greater  tribe.  The  late  remnant  of  Rhode 
Island  tribes  in  Charlestown,  Rhode  Island,  was  of  Niantic  stock. 

It  is  a  notable  fact  that  the  Indians  treated  the  Colonial  captives 
humanely  as  a  general  rule.  English  women  were  treated  with  respect 
and  in  no  case  was  violence  offered  to  their  persons.  The  testimony  of 
the  women,  made  captives  in  the  sacking  of  New  England  towns,  is  un- 
varying that  the  chivalric  spirit  of  the  red  men  protected  the  females  in 
their  captivity. 

At  the  close  of  King  Philip's  War,  the  Indian  tribes  were  extirpated 
and  the  English  Colonies  were  exhausted.  With  the  exception  of  the 
Aquidneck  towns,  and  a  small  group  at  Providence,  the  whole  of  the 
people  of  Rhode  Island  had  been  exiled  or  slain.  The  greatest  battle  of 
the  war  had  been  waged  on  Rhode  Island  soil.  Canonchet  and  Philip,  the 
two  great  chiefs,  had  been  brought  low  on  what  was  then  or  later  Rhode 
Island  territory.  Each  fell  within  his  own  Indian  domain,  fighting  for 
ancestral  rights.    Neither  surrendered  or  asked  quarter. 

Thirteen  English  towns  were  destroyed  and  few  escaped  unharmed. 
The  scattered  settlements  were  laid  in  ruins.  Edward  Randolph  in  his 
report  to  the  English  Board  of  Trade,  October  12,  1676,  estimated  the 
losses   of   the    war   at    £150,000,    twelve   hundred    houses   burnt,    eight 


462  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

thousand  head  of  cattle  killed,  thousands  of  bushels  of  grain  destroyed. 
The  English  loss  he  put  at  six  hundred  killed  with  twelve  captains,  and 
the  Indians  slain  three  thousand.  Plymouth  Colony  was  the  greatest 
Colonial  sufferer.  Not  only  was  there  mourning  in  every  household,  but 
the  destruction  of  property  and  the  public  expenditures  left  the  Colony 
under  a  debt  exceeding  the  total  valuation  of  the  property  of  the  people. 
So  heavy  was  the  burden  of  taxation  that  when,  in  1690,  the  existence  of 
the  Colony  as  an  independent  government  was  at  stake,  the  people,  on  a 
referendum  vote,  refused  to  raise  a  tax  to  send  an  agent  to  England  to 
defend  the  Colony,  and  as  a  result  Plymouth  was  united  with  the  Bay 
Colony  and  the  first  Colony  to  establish  civil  and  religious  institutions  of 
the  Pilgrim  type  lost  its  individuality  and  its  freer  and  broader  democ- 
racy in  the  Puritan  Commonwealth  at  the  head  of  Massachusetts  Bay. 
Lodge,  in  his  "History  of  the  English  Colonies,"  says  of  Philip's  War: 

This  long  and  desperate  conflict  fell  upon  New  England  with  crush- 
ing effect.  A  vast  amount  of  property  had  been  destroyed  and  there 
was  mourning  in  every  household.  The  Colonies  were  loaded  with  debt, 
while  the  enormous  expenditure  of  men  and  money  had  crippled  the 
public  resources,  weakened  the  government  and  depressed  the  spirits  of 
the  people. 

In  the  appeal  to  our  reason  and  our  humanity  to  render  a  just  verdict 
on  King  Philip's  War,  which,  beginning  in  1675,  terminated  with  the 
final  conquest  of  the  Indian  tribes  in  North  America  at  the  close  of  the 
French  and  Indian  War,  in  1759,  we  are  forced  to  the  conclusion  that 
whatever  the  merits  of  the  cause  on  either  side,  the  contest  was  unavoid- 
able and  inevitable  and  resulted  in  the  interests  of  Christianity  and  civil- 
ization. The  American  continent  with  its  vast  resources  and  unmeasured 
possibilities  was  the  habitation  of  a  few  thousands  of  Indians,  whose 
recreation  was  inter-tribal  war,  and  whose  occupation  was  in  a  shiftless 
nomadic  life.  Industry,  law,  religion,  had  no  economic  value  of  regulating 
force  on  the  individual  or  community  life  of  the  Indian.  Property  in 
severality,  the  Palladium  of  rights,  was  an  unknown  and  an  untried  factor. 
Might  alone  made  right  and  rights  of  possession.  Wherever  among  men, 
such  ideas  and  ideals  have  held  sway,  they  have  and  must  always  give 
way  to  the  higher  and  broader  conceptions  of  mankind.  Personal  virtues 
and  high  moral  qualities,  may  and  do  dwell  in  savage  men,  but  these 
virtuous  qualities  cannot  stay  human  progress  or  hinder  the  march  of 
the  great  forces  of  society,  inspired  by  high  ideals,  elevated  by  education 
and  moving  towards  the  goal  of  Democracy.  Whoever  and  whatever 
stands  in  the  way  of  this  progressive  movement  must  join  it  or  be  crushed 
by  it.     This  seems  to  be  nature's  fundamental,  universal,  relentless  law. 


KING  PHILIP'S  WAR  463 

The  Indian  tribes  of  New  England  stood  in  the  pathway  of  a  great  race 
moving  westward  to  found  a  new  civilization.  From  among  these  savage 
peoples,  rose  to  power,  the  wise  and  peace  loving  Massasoit.  the  great 
and  generous  Canonicus,  the  diplomatic  Miantonomi,  the  patriotic  I'hilip, 
the  unconquerable  Canonchet. 

We  cannot  exalt  their  virtues  too  highly  or  condemn  their  faults  too 
leniently.  They  did  what  their  savage  natures,  their  education,  their 
tribal  traditions  taught  them.  They  acted  true  to  their  consciences  and 
convictions.  Let  this  he  our  generous  verdict.  Hut  Bradford  and  Stan- 
dish  and  W'inslow  and  W'inthrop  and  Williams  and  Clarke  and  Codding- 
ton  and  Gorton,  the  representatives  of  a  great  race,  a  higher  manhood  and 
a  new  state  craft,  needed  a  field  for  expansion,  development,  and  on  the 
ruins  of  a  prostrate  Indian  racial  life  they  built  a  Commonwealth  founded 
on  Law,  Education,  Industry,  Religion, — a  Christian  Democracy. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 


THE  NARRAGANSETT  COUNTRY 


STATE  CAPITOL,  PROVIDENCE 
Dedicated,   1900 


ROGER  MOWRY  TAVERN,  PROVIDENCE 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE  NARRAGANSETT  COUNTRY. 

The  country  known  as  Narragansett,  the  home  of  the  tribe  bearing 
that  name,  included  originally  all  of  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plan- 
tations, prior  to  1747.  The  original  dwellers  were  the  Narragansett 
Indians,  who  according  to  Brinley,  numbered  at  one  time  30,000  men. 
The  Niantics,  Nipmucs,  the  Shawomets  and  Cowcsetts,  were  small  sub- 
ject tribes  within  this  area.  Roger  Williams  tells  us  that  on  his  first 
acquaintance  with  them,  about  1632,  they  could  raise  five  thousand 
warriors. 

At  the  close  of  Philip's  War,  the  remnant  of  the  tribes  continued 
to  occupy  the  territory,  bordering  on  the  ocean  between  Weckapaug  ana 
the  Pawcatuck  River,  and  the  name  Narragansett  was  retained  for  the 
territory  now  known  as  Washington  county  and  a  portion  of  Kent 
county.  It  is  our  purpose,  in  this  chapter,  to  write  of  the  white  settlers, 
who  succeeded  to  the  ownership  and  occupation  of  the  southern  section 
of  these  early  Indian  lands,  whose  character,  life  and  influence  have  been 
so  peculiar  and  distinguished  as  to  demand  special  treatment  as  an  in- 
def)endent  commonwealth — "the  Narragansett  Country." 

.A.S  we  are  coming  into  important  business  relations  with  the  sachems 
and  sub-sachems  of  the  Narragansetts,  we  shall  find  bargains  and  sales 
of  land  and  other  valuables  the  subjects  of  disputes  between  the  white 
settlers  and  the  Indians,  between  the  white  settlers  with  each  other,  and 
between  the  Indian  sachems  themselves.  The  ideas  of  land  tenure 
differed  so  widely  that  a  legal  conveyance  had  little  more  than  temporary 
significance  and  value.  The  Indian  sachems  did  not  and  could  not  clearly 
understand  the  technical  terms  of  a  deed,  even  when  interpreted  to  them 
by  the  white  man.  The  opportunity  and  the  temptation  were  united  to 
the  advantage  of  the  white  man,  and  even  in  the  first  purchase  made  by 
Mr.  Williams  in  1638,  concerning  whom  no  one  will  accuse  of  fraud,  the 
confusion  as  to  terms,  bounds  and  title  became  the  subjects  of  bitter  con- 
troversy that  lasted  more  than  a  century.  The  purchase  of  Aquidneck 
by  Clarke  and  Coddington  in  1638  was  a  singular  instance  of  a  sale  and 
title  that  were  never  disputed.  Taxes,  interest,  annuities,  were  stranger 
terms  for  an  Indian  to  understand  than  land  tenure,  life  or  permanent, 
and  the  written  documents  that  affirmed  them.  The  Narragansetts  looked 
to  Mr.  Williams  as  "their  guide,  philosopher  and  friend,"  and  their  reli- 
ance was  on  a  man  whose  honesty  and  sympathy  in  Indian  transactions 
were  not  questioned,  but  whose  business  knowledge  and  practise  were 
strangely  and  strikingly  deficient.     As  a  diplomatist  and  peace-maker, 


468  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

Mr.  Williams  excelled.  As  a  business  man  and  an  advisor  in  state-craft, 
he  is  entitled  to  meager  compliment. 

A  case  of  conflict  of  titles  between  Indians  occurred  in  the  Pawtuxet 
Purchase  of  1641.  Nawashawsuc,  an  under  sachem  of  Massassoit  of  the 
Wampanoags,  claimed  the  tract,  which  was  deeded  to  William  Arnold, 
Robert  Cole  and  William  Carpenter  by  Soccononoco  and  Pumham,  sub- 
sachems  of  the  Narragansetts.  These  purchasers  with  Benedict  Arnold 
submitted  themselves  and  their  land  to  Massachusetts  Bay,  September  8, 
1642,  giving  to  the  Bay  Colony  a  small  territory  adjoining  the  Williams 
purchase  of  1638.  This  land  transaction  and  its  transference  was  the 
source  of  plentiful  trouble  in  the  tribe  and  the  starting  point  of  claims 
of  many  sorts  by  the  Bay  Colony  on  the  Indians  and  the  Rhode  Island 
Colony.  In  1643  the  territory  of  Shawomet,  Warwick,  was  sold  to 
Samuel  Gorton  and  ten  others,  the  deed  bearing  the  signs  and  seals  of 
Miantonomi  and  of  Powham,  local  sachems.  This  title  was  questioned  by 
Massachusetts  on  the  ground  of  priority  of  Colonial  claim,  out  of  which 
followed  the  savage  and  unjustifiable  attack  of  the  militia  of  the  Bay  on 
the  Warwick  settlement  and  the  scattering  of  the  settlers  in  flight  and 
capture.  In  the  disputes  and  complications  of  the  two  sales  made  in 
1641  and  1642  we  may  trace  the  course  of  the  spirit  and  motive  which 
alienated  the  two  colonies  and  the  real  cause  as  Judge  Potter  states,  "why 
Miantonomi  was  afterwards  so  coolly  and  cruelly  put  to  death,  when  he 
fell  into  their  hands,  in  his  war  with  the  Mohegans,  though  other  and 
more  sanctimonious  reasons  were  outwardly  assigned  for  the  deed." 

It  may  also  be  stated  that  the  Narragansett  country  was  a  prize 
coveted  by  all  the  New  England  Colonies.  Rhode  Island  claimed  it  as 
included  in  the  Patent  of  1643-4.  Connecticut  was  very  desirous  of 
extending  her  territory  eastward  to  Narragansett  Bay  and  harbors. 
Massachusetts  wanted  it  for  its  speculative  value  and  as  a  foil  to  Mr. 
Williams'  rising  ambition  as  to  a  colony  on  the  west  side  of  Narragansett 
Bay.  Plymouth  laid  claim  to  it  for  no  special  reason  except  that  its 
fertile  lands  were  a  better  place  for  settlers  than  the  sandy  shores  of 
Cape  Cod  or  the  juniper  hills  of  Plymouth.  It  is  quite  possible  that  the 
Plymouth  leaders  hoped  to  gain  Aquidneck  and  extend  their  holdings  to 
the  Connecticut  line. 

Tlie  Narragansett  country  in  the  early  days  was  heavily  wooded,  was 
intersected  by  many  streams  and  dotted  with  many  ponds.  Among  the 
ponds  were  the  Tippecansett,  Yawgoog,  Yawgoo,  Worden's,  Tucker's, 
Annaquatucket,  Pettaquamscutt,  Great  Pond,  Quonocontaug,  Charles- 
town,  Beebe,  Wachaug,  Quassakoonkanuc,  Green  Hill,  Point  Judith, 
Babcock,  and  many  others.  Among  the  streams,  the  larger  were  the  Paw- 
catuck,  Usquepaug,  Chepuxet,  Pettaquamscutt,  Hunt's,  Narrow,  Wood, 
Ashaway  and  Beaver.     The  forests  were  filled  with  game,  the  streams 


THE  NARRAGANSETT  COUNTRY  469 

and  ponds  abounded  with  fish  and  the  sandy  shores  and  shallow  waters 
furnished  clams,  quahaugs  and  oysters.  The  wampum  of  the  Narragan- 
setts  was  made  of  the  shells  of  their  abundant  fisheries.  Many  of  the 
streams  found  their  way  to  the  sea  over  rocky  precipices,  the  water  power 
of  which  was  first  used  by  the  settlers  for  mills  of  various  kinds  and  in 
later  days  for  manufacturing  purposes.  Tlie  land  cleared  of  forests  was 
fertile  and  suited  to  all  the  products  of  our  New  England  climate,  in  the 
early  day,  especially  com,  rye,  oats,  barley,  potatoes,  beans,  onions  and 
all  other  Rhode  Island  vegetables.  Salt  grasses  abounded  on  the  tide 
streams  and  fresh  grasses  furnished  abundance  of  hay  for  cattle,  sheep 
and  horses.  Agriculture  and  the  raising  of  horses,  sheep  and  cattle 
occupied  the  early  settlers,  most  of  whom  in  the  seventeenth  and  eight- 
eenth centuries  became  independently  wealthy,  the  evidences  of  which 
survive  into  the  twentieth.  With  the  ocean  washing  the  south  shore,  with 
its  chain  of  salt  water  ponds  and  the  waters  of  the  Bay  on  the  east,  the 
climate  of  Narragansett  was  of  the  mildest  New  England  type.  Such  a 
land  was  a  fit  place  for  the  residence  "of  the  Gods  and  of  God-like  men," 
and  hither  came  men  and  women  of  a  stock  of  which  any  land  might  be 
proud. 

The  first  white  settler  in  the  Narragansett  country,  according  to  Mr. 
Williams,  was  Mr.  Richard  Smith,  Sen.,  "who  for  his  conscience  to  God 
left  faire  Posessions  in  Gloster  Shire  and  adventured  with  his  Relations 
and  Estate  to  N.  Engl,  and  was  a  most  acceptable  Inhabitant  and  prime 
leading  man  in  Taimton  in  Plymouth  Colony.  For  his  conscience  sake 
(many  differences  arising)  he  left  Taunton  and  came  to  the  Nahiggon- 
sik  Countrey  where  by  God's  mercy  and  the  favor  of  the  Nahigonsik 
Sachems  he  broke  the  Ice  (at  his  great  charge  and  Hazards)  and  Put 
up  in  the  thickest  of  ye  Barbarians  ye  first  English  House  amongst  them." 
This  was  in  1637  or  39.  This  date  rests  on  a  letter  of  Roger  Williams, 
written  in  1679,  in  which  he  says  that  Smith  built  his  house  "about  forty- 
two  years  from  the  date  he  kept  possession."  As  Mr.  Williams'  dates  are 
always  subject  to  wide  marginal  variations,  it  is  impossible  to  establish 
the  connection  with  perfect  accuracy.  Goodwin  favors  1637.  Mr.  Wil- 
liams and  a  handful  of  settlers  were  at  Providence  and.  if  the  date  was 
1639,  Clarke  and  Coddington  were  his  nearest  neighbors  on  Aquidneck, 
with  William  Blackstone  at  Study  Hill  on  the  Pawtucket.  Under  date 
of  1641,  Brinley  writes,  "Richard  Smith  purchased  a  tract  of  the  Narra- 
gansett Sachem,  among  the  thickest  of  the  Indians  (computed  at  30,000) 
erected  a  house  for  trade,  and  gave  free  entertainment  to  travellers ;  it 
being  the  great  road  of  the  country."  "This  great  road,"  was  the  Pequot 
and  Narragansett  trail,  which  skirted  the  shore  of  the  ocean  and  the 
west  bank  of  Narragansett  Bay,  it  being  today  the  main  travelled  way  to 
Point  Judith  and  Westerly.     Callendar  states  that  Roger  Williams  and 


470  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

one  Mr.  Wilcox  erected  trading  houses  in  the  Narragansett  country  about 
1642-3.  Williams  built  his  house  a  mile  or  more  north  of  Smith,  on  the 
east  side  of  the  Old  Trail  and  lived  there  from  1643  to  165 1,  when  he  sold 
out  to  Smith.  The  foundation  walls  and  the  floor  timbers  of  the  Wil- 
liams house  may  be  seen  in  the  cellar  of  a  house  standing  on  the  site. 

For  nearly  an  hundred  years  a  sharp  and  bitter  contest  was  carried 
on  between  the  Colonies  of  Rhode  Island,  Plymouth,  Massachusetts  Bay 
and  Connecticut  over  the  title  to  the  Narragansett  country.  In  1631,  Con- 
necticut obtained  her  first  patent,  bounding  the  Colony  on  "Narragansett 
river." 

In  1643,  the  Williams  patent  declared,  "on  the  west  and  northwest 
by  the  Indians  called  Nahigganneucks  alias  Narragansets,  the  whole  tract 
extending  about  twenty-five  English  miles,  unto  the  Fequod  river  and 
country."  This  patent  seemed  to  fix  the  colonial  bound  at  the  Thames 
river,  known  as  the  Pequod. 

In  1662,  Connecticut  Colony  obtained  a  new  charter,  which  bounded 
her  possessions  on  the  east  by  Narragansett  river,  commonly  called 
Narragansett  Bay,  where  the  said  river  falleth  into  the  sea,"  *  *  * 
that  is  to  say  from  the  Narragansett  Bay  on  the  east  to  the  south  sea 
on  the  west." 

In  April,  1663,  commissioners  were  mutually  chosen  to  fix  the  colonial 
bounds,  and  their  terms  were  agreed  to  by  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  for  Con- 
necticut and  Dr  John  Clarke  for  Rhode  Island.  The  commission  declared 
"that  a  River,  there  commonly  called  and  knowne  by  the  name  of  Paw- 
catuck  River,  shall  be  the  certaine  bounds  betweene  those  two  Collonies, 
which  said  River  shall  for  the  future  be  alsoe  called  alias  Norrogansett, 
or  Narrogansett  River.  *  *  *  That  the  proprietors  and  inhabitants  of 
that  land,  about  Mr.  Smith's  Tradeing-house  claimed  or  purchased  by 
Major  Atherton  *  *  *  ^^^f^  others,  *  *  *  shall  have  free  liber- 
tie  to  choose  to  which  of  those  Collonies  they  will  belong."  On  July  3, 
1663,  the  Smith- Atherton  proprietors  met  and  chose  Connecticut  as  their 
colonial  jurisdiction. 

The  Royal  Charter  of  Rhode  Island,  dated  July  8,  1663,  described 
the  same  boundary  line,  but  did  not  refer  to  the  choice  granted  the  Smith- 
Atherton  parties.  It  is  evident  that  such  a  co-partnership  in  colonial 
authority  could  not  exist  in  peace  for  any  length  of  time.  Arrests,  im- 
prisonment and  other  acts  of  violence,  threatened  bloodshed,  and  a  col- 
onist wrote,  "We  are  in  greater  trouble  than  ever  and  like  to  be  war." 

These  acts  of  violence  and  injustice  reached  the  English  government 
and  Colonel  Nichols,  Sir  Robert  Carr,  George  Cartwright  and  Samuel 
Maverick,  Esquires,  were  chosen  to  determine  all  questions  of  colonial 
bounds  between  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut.  In  March,  1664-5,  the 
commission  met  at  Pettaquamscutt,  and  after  a  hearing,  erected  the  Narra- 


THE  NARRAGANSETT  COUNTRY  471 

gansett  country,  from  Narragansett  Bay  to  Pawcatuck  river,  into  an  inde- 
pendent jurisdiction  to  be  called  "Ye  King's  I*rovince  And  yt  No  Per- 
son, OF  What  Colony  Soever,  Presume  to  Exercise  Any  Jurisdiction 
WITHIN  THIS  Ye  King's  Province,  But  Such  As  Receive  Authority 
FROM  Us  Under  Our  Hands  and  Seales,  until  his  Majesties  pleasure  be 
futher  known."  King  Charles  approved  the  act  and  thereby  one-half  the 
territory  of  the  Rhode  Island  Colony  was  created  a  sovereign  province 
and  in  all  acts  of  Parliament  relating  to  the  Colony,  it  is  referred  to  as 
"The  Colony  of  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantations,  and  the 
King's  Province."  Philip's  War  came  in  1675  and  at  its  close  the  Wam- 
panoags  and  Narragansetts  were  practically  exterminated.  Rhode  Island 
and  Connecticut  again  enter  conflicting  claims  for  the  possession  of  the 
King's  province.  Arrests,  imprisonments,  confiscations  followed  and 
again,  in  1683,  a  new  High  Court  was  created  to  settle  the  Colonial  con- 
troversy. It  decided  that  the  King's  Province  belonged  to  Connecticut. 
Rhode  Island  remonstrated  and  defeated  the  decision. 

In  1685,  the  King  commissioned  Joseph  Dudley  as  President  of 
Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts  and  the  King's  Province,  declar- 
ing the  last  a  separate  government,  independent  of  Rhode  Island.  Presi- 
dent Dudley  and  his  Colonial  Council  met  at  Smith's  Castle  or  Trading 
House,  established  courts,  appointed  magistrates,  and  to  obliterate  the 
former  organization,  changed  the  names  of  the  towns, — Kingstown  to 
Rochester,  Westerly  to  Haversham,  and  Greenwich  to  Deptford.  Still  the 
contest  continued  as  the  King's  plan  was  unsatisfactory  to  both  Colonies. 
Wearied  with  the  long  conflict  and  ready  to  settle  on  the  best  terms  possi- 
ble, Rhode  Island  sent  Lieut.  Governor  Joseph  Jenckes  to  London  to 
present  a  final  appeal  to  the  King  and  Privy  Council.  Connecticut  chose 
Jeremiah  Dummer,  of  Massachusetts,  as  its  agent. 

In  1726,  the  King  in  Council  made  final  decision  that  the  Pawcatuck 
river  should  be  the  boundary  line  between  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut, 
and  that  the  King's  Province  should  thereafter  be  a  part  of  the  Colony 
of  Rhode  Island.  Thus  ended  the  long  and  bitter  struggle  which  had  cost 
vast  labor,  years  of  hostile  debate  and  a  sum  of  money  large  for  feeble 
colonies.  The  decision  in  favor  of  Rhode  Island  saved  the  Colony  from 
disintegration  and  its  absorption  by  neighboring  colonies.  Had  Connec- 
ticut won  the  Narragansett  countrj-,  Aquidneck  would  have  been  added  to 
Plymouth  Colony  and  Providence  Plantations  to  Connecticut  or  Massa- 
chusetts. Three  generations  of  indomitable  Rliode  Island  fighters  won 
the  coveted  Narragansett  lands  and  made  possible  the  planting  and  devel- 
opment of  a  race  of  men  and  women,  the  pride  of  the  little  Common- 
wealth and  the  wonder  study  of  our  later  times. 


472  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

As  stated  before,  Richard  Smith  was  the  first  white  settler  in  the 
Narragansett  country,  1637-9.  Smith  was  bom  at  Gloucestershire,  Eng- 
land, about  1596.  Being  a  "Puritan  of  the  moderate  school,"  and  the 
owner  of  "faire  Possessions,"  he  decided  to  emigrate  to  New  England, 
to  avoid  the  persecuting  acts  of  Archbishop  Laud  towards  men  of  the 
Non-Conformist  faith.  It  is  certain  that  Smith  landed  in  Boston  and 
soon  went  to  Taunton,  becoming  an  original  proprietor,  holding  twelve 
shares,— the  maximum  number  sold  to  one  person.  His  name  appears 
among  "Inhabitants  admitted  at  the  Towne  of  Nieu  Port  since  the  20th 
of  the  3rd,  1638."  Mr.  Williams  says  that  Smith  left  Taunton  "for  his 
conscience  sake  (many  differences  arising),"  but  we  are  never  quite  sure 
as  to  the  nature  of  the  conscience  trouble,  when  related  by  Mr.  Williams. 
It  may  have  been  a  difference  as  to  the  location  of  lands  of  disagreeable 
neighbors.  Certain  it  was  that  in  a  settlement  over  which  Hon.  John 
Browne  and  Capt.  Myles  Standish  held  control,  there  could  be  no  religious 
interference.  It  is  certain  that  Smith  did  not  purchase  lands  of  the 
Indians  at  the  outset,  but  that  he  made  a  settlement  at  Narragansett,  "by 
the  consent  and  with  the  approbation  of  the  Indian  princes  and  people, 
and  did  improve  land,  now  meadows,  several!  yeares  before  Warwick  was 
settled  by  any  Englishman."  The  first  house  built  by  Richard  Smith  was 
probably  a  block  house  and  stood  on  the  east  side  of  and  near  the  "Pequot 
Path,"  on  the  site  of  "The  Updike  House,"  at  Wickford,  the  latter  con- 
taining some  of  the  materials  of  the  first  house  which  was  burned  by  the 
Indians  before  the  close  of  Philip's  War. 

The  great  road  for  all  the  travel  from  Boston  and  the  north  and 
east  to  Connecticut  and  New  York,  passed  by  the  Smith  blockhouse  at 
Cocumscussuc,  it  being  the  great  road  of  the  country.  The  Smith  house 
was  built  about  1640,  as  a  place  of  trade,  affording  free  entertainment 
for  travellers.  The  present  road,  the  post  road,  from  East  Greenwich 
to  Wickford  and  through  Tower  Hill,  Wakefield,  Charlestown  and  West- 
erly was  a  very  ancient  Indian  trail  and  is  referred  to  in  early  deeds  as 
"the  Pequot  Pafh,"  "the  Road  to  Pequot,"  "the  Country  Road,"  etc.  The 
Roger  Williams  trading  house  was  located  on  this  trail  about  a  mile  north 
of  the  Richard  Smith  House.  The  Pequot  tribe  occupied  southeastern 
Connecticut  and  a  part  of  southwestern  Rhode  Island  to  Weekapaug. 
After  the  Pequot  war  and  the  practical  destruction  of  the  tribe,  the  country 
still  retained  the  name  of  Pequot.  In  1645,  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  founded 
a  town  at  the  mouth  of  the  Thames,  calling  it  Pequot  or  Nameaug  (a  fish- 
ing place),  comprising  New  London  and  Groton.  The  Connecticut  As- 
sembly in  1658  named  the  place  New  London,  in  "memory  of  that 
renowned  City  of  London  from  whence  we  had  our  transportation."  The 
Pequot  river  was  then  named  the  Thames. 


THE  NARRAGANSETT  COUNTRY  473 

About  1640,  Smith  purchased  a  tract  of  land  of  the  Narragansett 
sachems,  among  the  tliickest  of  the  Indians  (computed  at  thirty  thousand 
people),  erected  a  house  for  trade  and  gave  free  entertainment  for  trav- 
ellers. One  John  Greene  testified,  "I  being  present  did  see  and  heare  all 
the  Narragansett  Princes,  being  assembled  together,  give,  by  livery  of 
scicin  some  hundreds  of  acres  of  land  about  a  mile  in  length  and  so 
down  to  the  sea."  This  tract  was  north  and  east  of  the  trading  house 
and  north  of  Mill  Cove  and  VVickford  Harbour,  and  the  first  sale  of  land 
in  "the  Narragansett  Country"  by  the  Indians  to  a  white  settler. 

The  second  sale  was  to  Roger  Williams,  who,  prior  to  1645,  pur- 
chased a  tract  on  the  "Pequot  Path,"  north  of  Richard  Smith's  and 
erected  a  trading  house,  spending  much  of  his  time  there  in  trade  with 
the  Indians.  A  letter  to  John  Whipple,  Jr.,  at  Pequot,  Connecticut,  is 
dated  "Narragansett,  22  Jime,  1645."  He  often  writes  from  Cawcawm- 
squissick,  another  Indian  name  for  his  trading  house.  Mr.  Williams'  last 
letter  from  the  trading  post  to  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  is  dated  October  6, 
165 1,  in  which  he  writes  of  his  plan  to  make  a  voyage  to  England,  saying 
"My  neighbors  of  Providence  and  Warwick,  (whom  I  also  lately  denied) 
with  the  importunities,  have  overcome  me  to  endeavor  the  renewing  of 
their  liberties,  upon  the  occasion  of  Mr.  Coddington's  late  grant.  Upon 
this  occasion,  I  have  been  advised  to  sell  and  have  sold  this  house  to  Mr. 
Smith  my  neighbor."  The  earliest  known  deed  of  Narragansett  land  to 
Richard  Smith  by  Roger  Williams  is  dated  Newport  the  3rd  of  the  7th 
month  called  1651,"  conveying  to  Smith  "in  consideration  of  fifty  pounds 
*  *  *  my  tradeing  house  at  Narragansett  *  *  *  as  alsoe  my  fields 
and  fencing  aboute  the  s'd  House."  The  amount  of  land  is  not  stated, 
but  whatever  it  was,  it  was  a  gift  of  the  Indians,  as  Mr.  Williams  stated, 
near  the  close  of  his  life,  that  he  never  paid  anything  for  Indian  lands. 

The  first  speculators  in  Indian  lands  at  Pettaquamscutt  were  John 
Hull,  the  mint-master  of  Boston,  the  maker  of  Pine  Tree  shillings,  the 
first  silver  coin  of  New  England,  Samuel  Wilbur,  John  Porter,  Thomas 
Mumford  and  Samuel  Wilson  of  Acjuidneck.  These  gentlemen  bought 
Pettaquamscutt  Hill  and  lands  adjoining,  in  1657  for  £16.  The  next  year 
the  sachem  of  Nyantic  sold  them  lands  on  the  north  for  £15, — the  whole 
being  a  tract  about  fifteen  miles  long  and  six  or  seven  miles  wide.  In 
1668,  William  Brenton  was  admitted  to  the  partnership  and  in  1669, 
Governor  Benedict  Arnold.  Jointly  they  were  called  the  Seven  Purchasers 
of  Pettaquamscutt. 

In  June,  1668,  five  of  the  Pettaquamscutt  Purchasers  passed  an  order, 
"that  a  tract  of  three  hundred  acres  of  the  best  land  and  in  a  convenient 
place  be  laid  out  and  forever  set  apart  as  an  encouragement,  the  income  or 
improvement  wholly  for  an  Orthodox  person,  that  shall  be  obtained  to 


474  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

preach  God's  word  to  the  inhabitants."  It  was  surveyed,  platted  and  the 
words  "to  the  ministry,"  entered  on  the  draft.  A  contention  arose  as  to 
the  legal  beneficiary  of  this  gift  of  land,  continuing  for  nearly  a  century, 
being  decided  finally  before  the  King's  Bench  at  Whitehall,  in  1752,  that 
as  the  donors  were  of  the  Presbyterian  or  Congregational  order,  and  that 
in  their  minds  the  term  "or  orthodox"  applied  to  that  denomination,  and 
the  proceeds  of  the  lands  constituting  a  fund  of  over  $5,000  are  now 
used  toward  the  support  of  the  Congregational  church  at  Kingston. 

Under  date  of  June  11,  1659,  Major  Humphrey  Atherton,  of  Boston, 
John  Winthrop,  Esq.,  of  Connecticut,  and  others,  partners  and  proprietors, 
purchased  of  Coquinaquand,  chief  sachem  of  the  Narragansetts  and  pro- 
prietor of  the  Narragansett  country,  the  territory  known  as  Quidnessit, 
bounded  by  the  Pequot  Trail  on  the  west,  the  Smith  Purchase  on  the  south, 
and  the  Bay  on  the  south  and  east. 

On  July  4,  of  the  same  year,  the  same  company  bought  Namcook  or 
Boston  Neck,  the  purchase  being  bounded  by  the  Smith  lands  on  the 
north,  the  Bay  on  the  east  and  south,  and  the  Pettaquamscutt  river  to 
its  own  sources  on  the  west. 

It  also  appears  that  under  date  of  October  13,  1660,  the  sachem  of 
the  Narragansetts  mortgaged  to  Major  Atherton,  John  Winthrop  and 
partners,  the  "remaining  part  of  the  whole  Narragansett  country,  contain- 
ing the  Cowesett  and  Niantic  countries  and  that  part  of  the  consideration, 
seven  hundred  and  thirty-five  fathom  of  peague  was  paid  November  16, 
1660,"  and  that  on  September  22,  1662,  Scuttup  and  Ninigret  with  sundry 
other  sachems,  counsellors  and  Indians  to  the  number  of  two  or  three 
hundred,  being  assembled  at  Pettaquamscutt,  the  said  Scuttup,  in  behalf 
of  himself,  brother  and  friends,  delivered  possession  of  the  country,  by 
turf  and  twig,  to  Captain  Edward  Hutchinson  and  others  for  the  benefit 
of  Major  Atherton  and  other  proprietors,  the  three  tracts  above  men- 
tioned included  about  100,000  acres  of  land,  giving  to  Massachusetts  men 
the  control  of  the  best  lands  south  of  the  Warwick  Purchase.  This  pro- 
prietary had  its  inception  in  the  discovery  of  these  lands  by  Humphrey 
Atherton  of  Dorchester,  in  the  march  of  the  Massachusetts  soldiers 
through  this  Indian  country  in  the  Pequot  War.  Later,  in  September, 
1643,  Lieut.  Atherton  was  an  officer  in  command  of  forty  Massachusetts 
soldiers,  sent  to  Warwick  to  secure  control  of  Shawomet  and  if  resistance 
was  made,  to  arrest  Gorton  and  his  associates.  Other  excursions  of 
Atherton,  Winthrop  and  others  gave  opportunities  for  an  acquaintance 
with  the  territory  and  led  to  desires  for  its  possession  for  its  valuable 
lands  and  fisheries  and  to  strengthen  the  position  of  Massachusetts  and 
Connecticut  to  hold  all  the  Narragansett  lands  south  of  the  Williams 
Purchase.    So  far  as  Indian  titles  availed,  Rhode  Island  had  been  despoiled 


THE  NARRAGANSETT  COUNTRY  475 

of  her  most  valuable  lands  against  the  remonstrances  of  Mr.  Williams 
and  the  Rhode  Island  government.  The  later  creation  and  royal  support 
of  "The  King's  Province,"  with  a  real  government,  courts,  officers  and 
recorders,  seemed  to  destroy  the  last  hope  of  holding  a  territory  essential 
to  the  continued  life  of  the  Colony  of  Rhode  Island. 

Concerning  Southern-town,  a  territory  extending  on  the  sea  from 
Weekapaug  to  the  Pequot  river,  while  Massachusetts  claimed  its  owner- 
ship, Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut  held  claims  in  common  with  the  Bay. 
Under  date  of  June  29,  1660,  Socho,  an  Indian  captain  of  Narragansett, 
sold  to  a  company  of  Newport  gentlemen,  a  portion  of  this  territory, 
called  Misquamicutt,  extending  from  Weekapaug  to  the  Pawcatuck  river. 
The  purchasers  were  William  Vaughan,  John  Fairfield,  Hugh  Moshur, 
James  Longbottom  and  others,  their  associates.  The  deed  was  witnessed 
by  Jeremy  Clarke,  Latham  Clarke,  Henry  Clarke,  George  Webb  and 
Henry  Gardiner.  The  east  line  of  the  purchase  ran  from  Weekapaug 
to  Shannock  and  thence  westerly  to  the  Pawcatuck  river.  In  March, 
i66i,  articles  of  agreement  were  drawn  up  at  Newport,  governing  the 
purchasers  as  to  the  lands  and  their  occupancy  which  received  the  signa- 
ture of  seventy-si.x  persons,  many  of  whom  becoming  settlerl  on  these 
lands  at  an  early  date.  Mr.  William  Vaughan  was  made  clerk  of  the  pro- 
prietors. On  the  isth  of  September,  1661,  the  purchasers  met  at  Mi- 
squamicutt to  the  number  of  sixty-eight,  laying  out  a  town,  "on  the  North 
side  of  the  Brook  by  the  Great  Neck,  and  so  to  extend  up  along  the 
River  on  the  East  side  of  the  highway."  This  was  the  beginning  of 
Westerly,  the  first  organized  settlement  in  the  King's  province.  ^\mong 
the  names  that  have  survived  for  two  and  a  half  centuries  are  Clarke, 
Crandall,  Carr,  Champlin,  Dickens,  Helme,  Peckham,  Greene,  Dyer,  Bull, 
Fones.  Arnold,  Cranston,  Cottrell,  Wood,  Coggeshall,  Tower,  Brayton, 
Babcock,  Saunders,  Langworthy,  Potter,  Hazard,  Sherman,  Weeden, 
Richmond,  Tillinghast,  Larkin,  Maxson,  Sands,  Lewis,  Burdick,  Browne. 
Under  the  story  of  the  founding  of  the  town  of  Westerly  will  be  found 
the  later  events  of  the  Misquamicutt  Purchase,  which  was  declared  void 
by  the  King's  Commissioners,  April  4,  1665. 

Judge  Potter's  "Early  History  of  Narragansett"  records  many  im- 
portant and  interesting  facts  as  side  lights  on  the  Narragansett  Purchase. 
The  following  are  among  the  most  significant.  On  August  27,  1645,  a 
treaty  was  concluded  at  Boston  between  the  Bay  Colony  and  Pessicus  and 
others  of  the  Narragansetts,  by  which  the  Indians  agreed  to  pay  to  the 
English  2,000  fathoms  of  white  or  one-third  as  much  black, — 500  in  20 
days,  500  in  four  months,  500  at  next  planting  season  and  the  balance  in 
two  years.  This  claim  was  made  and  allowed  on  the  ground  of  injuries 
and  indemnities  growing  out  of  the  relations  of  the  Indians  with  the 


476  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

whites.^ and  was  wholly  to  the  advantage  of  the  English.  In  1646,  the 
Narragansetts  declared  themselves  unable  to  pay  the  whole  sum,  but 
were  forced  to  pay  the  whole  sum,  through  the  agency  of  Capt.  Humphrey 
Atherton,  of  Dorchester,  who,  in  his  visit  to  Pessicus,  at  Narragansett, 
seized  the  chief  by  his  hair  and  threatened  his  life  unless  the  payment 
was  made  at  once.  The  Indians  were  so  frightened  that  they  collected 
and  paid  the  tribute,  though  Pessicus  declared  he  had  been  forced  into 
the  treaty.  Capt.  Atherton  was  the  leader  of  the  syndicate  that  made  the 
several  purchases  of  the  Narragansetts  and  made  the  acquaintance  with 
the  Narragansett  country  on  this  trip  to  collect  the  wampum. 

In  1647,  Canonicus,  the  great  sachem  of  the  Narragansetts,  died,  a 
very  old  man,  leaving  the  hereditary  Indian  quarrel  to  his  successor. 
Mr.  Williams  made  the  acquaintance  of  Canonicus  soon  after  his  arrival,  ' 
and  by  continued  visits  and  a  thorough,  hearty  confidence  in  Indian  char- 
acter, won  the  great  sachem's  friendship  and  confidence  in  return,  as  well 
as  the  good  will  of  the  great  tribe.  It  was  Canonicus  who  declared,  "I 
have  never  suffered  any  wrong  to  be  offered  to  the  English  since  they 
landed,  nor  never  will,"  and  this  was  said  when  he  had  gloomy  fears 
and  forebodings  as  to  the  future  of  his  nation,  and  in  a  measure  doubting 
the  continued  peaceful  relations  with  the  English.  Mr.  Williams  wrote 
of  the  old  sachem:  "Their  late  famous,  long-lived  Canonicus,  so  lived  and 
died,  and  in  the  same  most  honorable  manner  and  solemnity  (in  their 
way)  as  you  laid  to  sleep  your  prudent  peacemaker,  Mr.  Winthrop,  did 
they  honor  this  their  prudent  and  peaceable  prince.  His  son,  Mexam, 
inherits  his  spirit.  Yea,  through  all  their  towns  and  countries,  how  fre- 
quently do  many,  and  oft  times  our  Englishmen,  travel  alone  with  safety 
and  loving  kindness." 

The  Atherton  purchases  of  land  in  the  Narragansett  country  were 
subjects  of  controversy  for  many  years.  The  purchases  were  made  in 
violation  of  a  law  of  Rhode  Island  and  in  opposition  to  the  warning  of 
Roger  Williams,  who  refused  to  be  a  party  in  the  transactions  with  the 
Indians.  In  1659,  the  Rhode  Island  Colonial  Assembly,  at  Portsmouth, 
appointed  a  committee  of  two  from  each  town  to  write  to  the  Commis- 
sioners of  the  United  Colonies  and  to  Major  Atherton  as  to  the  validity 
of  these  sales  by  the  Indians  to  Massachusetts  parties.  In  1660,  a  com- 
mittee was  sent  to  treat  with  Major  Atherton  and  his  company  as  to  their 
purchases  in  Narragansett,  offering  terms  upon  which  they  might  hold 
these  lands,  or  if  they  refused  to  treat,  to  forbid  their  entrance  on  the 
territory. 

In  1661,  the  Atherton  company  came  into  possession  of  all  the  unsold 
lands  in  the  Narragansett  country,  as  a  result  of  a  great  injustice  com- 
mitted by  the  Commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies  upon  the  Narragan- 


THE  NARRAGANSETT  COUNTRY  477 

sett  Indians.  The  tribe  was  charged  unjustly  of  inflicting  injuries  on  the 
Mohegans  and  a  heavy  fine  was  levied  which  the  sachem  declined  to  pay. 
An  armed  force  was  sent  to  compel  the  payment  of  five  hundred  and 
ninety-five  fathoms  of  peag  within  four  months  from  the  demand.  The 
sachems  mortgaged  all  their  unsold  lands  in  Narragansett  to  the  Atherton 
company,  on  condition  that  the  company  should  pay  the  fine.  Six  months 
was  allowed  for  redemption.  Atherton  paid  the  fine,  the  land  was  not 
redeemed,  and  in  the  spring  of  1662,  formal  possession  was  made  to  the 
mortgagees.  The  once  land-wealthy  tribe  was  now  landless  and  worse, 
for  the  younger  sachems  were  embittered  towards  the  Colonists  and  were 
nourishing  a  hatred  that  was  expressed  a  few  years  later  in  the  desola- 
tions of  Philip's  War. 

The  action  of  the  Colony  of  Rhode  Island  in  opposition  to  the  Ath- 
erton Company  and  its  purchases  was  a  complete  justification  of  the 
Narragansett  settlers  in  choosing  Connecticut  jurisdiction  in  1663,  as 
already  noted.  The  Governor  and  Council  of  Connecticut  accepted  the 
civil  control  of  the  settlers  in  Narragansett,  named  the  plantation  Wick- 
ford  and  appointed  Richard  Smith,  Sen.,  Edward  Hutchinson  and  Joshua 
Howes  selectmen,  and  Richard  Smith,  Jr.,  constable.  The  -Smith  trad- 
ing house  was  chosen  as  the  place  for  transacting  all  public  business  of 
the  Narragansett  country.  In  order  further  to  relieve  the  Atherton  Com- 
pany from  the  acts  of  the  Rhode  Island  Colony,  King  Charles  commended 
the  Atherton  purchasers  and  their  proprietary  interests  to  the  care  of  the 
United  Colonies  of  New  England. 

In  1664,  the  .Atherton  Company  was  summoned  to  appear  before  the 
General  Assembly  to  answer  for  its  intrusions  and  usurpations  and  was 
forbidden  under  penalty  of  fines  and  imprisonment  to  continue  its  attempts 
to  settle  in  the  Colony.  .►Xnd  so  the  wearisome  contest  as  to  title  and 
jurisdiction  continued  for  more  than  half  a  century  until  death  had 
silenced  the  original  contestants  and  the  exhausted  patience,  diplomacy 
and  fighting  ability  of  the  United  Colonies  were  forced  to  yield  to  the 
jurisdiction  claimed  by  Williams  and  Clarke  in  favor  of  the  Rhode  Island 
Colony.  Meanwhile  the  title  holders  of  the  Narragansett  lands  had  come 
to  be  actual  Rhode  Island  settlers  and  the  argument  and  motive  for 
vacating  land  titles  had  long  since  ceased.  For  the  benefit  of  such  stud- 
ents as  wish  to  enter  the  labyrinth  of  historical  evidence  relative  to  titles 
and  jurisdiction  of  the  Narragansett  country,  reference  is  made  to  Arnold's 
History  of  Rhode  Island,  Vol.  I ;  to  the  Early  History  of  Narragansett, 
by  Elisha  R.  Potter,  Jr. ;  the  Colonial  Records  of  Rhode  Island,  Connec- 
ticut and  Massachusetts,  and  the  records  of  the  Commissioners  of  the 
United  Colonies. 


478  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

The  seven  purchasers  of  Pettaquamscutt  were  landlords  in  deed  and 
in  truth.  For  the  paltry  sum  of  £31, — about  $175,  these  men  had  come 
into  the  possession  of  64,000  acres  of  land,  at  a  cost  of  less  than  three- 
tenths  of  a  cent  per  acre, — land  too,  that  was  valuable  for  tillage,  grazing, 
timber  and,  for  all  that  they  knew  and  really  supposed,  for  mines,  with 
salt  and  fresh  water  ponds  and  rivers,  with  the  adjacent  shores  and  sea 
stocked  by  nature  with  innumerable  fish  of  all  kinds  for  food  and  fertil- 
ization. Strange  to  say,  out  of  the  average  lot  of  common  men  and 
women  of  old  English  stock,  in  Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island  came  a 
colony, — a  race  of  large  land-owners,  who  have  long  borne  the  name  of 
Narragansett  planters ;  who  settled  on  the  Pettaquamscutt  lands,  erected 
large  houses  on  large  estates,  drew  their  wealth  from  the  soil,  sur- 
rounded themselves  with  all  the  comforts  that  an  early  pioneer  life  could 
furnish  and  as  lords  of  manors,  formed  a  landed  aristocracy,  with  as 
marked  characteristics  as  the  aristocrats  of  other  communities,  home  or 
foreign.  The  varied  products  of  our  Rhode  Island  soil  furnished  all  the 
foods  that  the  early  system  of  agriculture  produced,  while  herds  of  cattle, 
great  flocks  of  sheep  and  great  pens  of  hogs  supplied  abundance  of  meat 
for  home  consumption  and  a  surplus  for  exchange  for  foreign  products. 
Wool  and  flax  were  converted  into  clothing  by  domestic  machinery  in  the 
homes  of  the  planters.  Slavery,  of  a  mild  form,  had  existed  in  all  the 
New  England  Colonies  from  a  very  early  day  and  Rhode  Island  farmers 
had  early  used  the  labor  of  negro  captives  from  Africa.  Newport  had 
become  a  slave  market  for  New  England  and  most  of  the  land-holders 
of  this  Colony  employed  slave  families  for  indoor  and  outdoor  work,  as 
unpaid  slave  labor  was  more  profitable  than  paid  white  labor,  it  was  the 
practise  to  own  and  employ  as  many  slaves  as  the  size  of  the  farm  and 
the  means  of  the  owner  would  permit.  Mr.  Updike  states  that  in  the 
Narragansett  country  families  would  average  from  five  to  forty  slaves 
each,  the  slaves  and  horses  being  about  equal  in  numbers.  The  raising  of 
negro  babies  was  an  industry  that  yielded  some  profit  to  the  farmer,  and 
the  multiplication  of  the  negro  family  gave  more  leisure  to  the  white 
families,  whose  chief  duties  often  were  to  supervise  slave  labor.  Some  of 
the  large  planters  owned  vessels  and  imported  the  negroes  needed  by 
neighboring  families.  The  round  voyage  from  Narragansett  included  a 
cargo  of  farm  products  or  liquor  to  Africa,  with  a  return  trip  with  an 
hundred  negroes,  a  part  of  whom  were  sold  in  the  West  Indies  for  sugar 
and  molasses  or  for  cash  and  the  balance  supplied  the  home  market,  the 
planters  counting  three  profits  on  a  venture  of  four  or  five  months  in 
duration.  The  large  mansion  houses  of  the  planters,  with  spacious  gable 
roofs  afforded  garret  rooms,  in  which,  with  their  out-houses  and  cabins 


THE  NARRAGANSETT  COUNTRY  479 

were  tlie  sleeping  places  of  the  slaves, — their  homes,  where  family  life 
had  its  free  and  full  exercise  and  native  expression. 

This  Narragansctt  planter  class  was  not  a  purse-proud  people,  al- 
though they  had  a  plenty  of  worldly  goods  for  their  day.  \or  were 
they  aristocratic  in  the  modern  use  of  that  term;  they  were  not  even  well 
educated.  They  had  no  schools,  no  churches  and  no  social  or  political 
nucleus.  Home  life,  the  farm,  the  country  side,  hunting,  fishing,  horse- 
racing,  sinless  gambling,  an  occasional  half-way  duel,  or  a  clean  shot  at 
an  intruding,  too  neighborly  animal  occupied  the  time  of  these  exclusive 
"damned  independent"  south  country  gentlemen  and  dames.  Hospitality 
was  unstinted.  A  guest  at  a  planter  home  was  the  temporary  lord  of  the 
manor.  The  men  and  women  of  high  degree  of  Dutch,  French  or  English 
stock  found  in  a  Narragansctt  mansion  a  warm  welcome,  a  cheery  side- 
board; a  blazing  cordwood  fire,  under  a  roaring  chimney,  a  table  loaded 
with  all  the  meats,  breadstuffs,  fruits,  pies,  cakes,  corn-bread,  johnny 
cakes,  wines,  cider,  tea,  coffee,  et  cetera,  et  cetera,  served  under  the  eye 
of  an  elegantly  gowned  and  powdered  mater  familias,  by  maids  with  dark 
faces  and  African  born  curls,  taught  in  the  school  of  south  country  eti- 
quette, neatness  and  grace.  Music  added  its  charms  to  the  courtly  dinner 
in  the  strains  of  the  fiddle,  the  big  bass  viol,  the  guitar  and  the  voices  of 
the  songsters  of  the  Gold  Coast.  The  ladies  of  the  Narragansett  homes 
were  full  sized,  tall,  full  chested,  handsome,  with  courtly  manners  and, 
when  full  dressed,  most  attractive.  Although  not  educated  in  the  schools, 
intelligence  and  the  inner  consciousness  of  good  family  blood  and  other 
inheritances  made  the  women  excellent  wives,  mothers  and  hostesses, 
who  performed  well  their  important  role  in  domestic  and  social  life. 

A  Narragansett  lady  dressed  for  dinner  or  a  ball  was  certainly  an 
attractive  personage.  An  erect,  stately,  graceful  figure  accepts  and  appro- 
priates garments  as  a  fuller  and  deeper  expression  of  the  pulsating  vigor 
of  the  life  within.  The  face,  neck  and  bosom,  the  piece  dc  resistance,  were 
the  open  book  of  beauty  in  feature,  form  and  womanly  attractiveness. 
The  intellectual  forehead,  the  kindling  eye,  the  rose-crowned  lips,  the 
English  patrician  nose,  the  clean  cheek,  tinged  with  color,  the  well  rounded, 
firm  chin,  a  neck  of  fine  proportions  leading  to  a  bosom  of  grace  and 
purity,  half  concealed  by  a  corsage  of  Valenciennes  lace  set  in  a  Ghilan 
silk  bodice  to  the  waist  line  and  then  sweeping  away  in  broad  plaits  to 
reveal,  at  its  lower  folds,  rich  Oiina  and  Belgium  fineries  of  ancient 
millinery.  Silk  stockings  and  silver  or  gold  buckled  shoes,  constituted  the 
foot  wear,  while  diamond  or  pearl  set  earrings,  a  silver  or  gold  ornament  on 
the  crown  with  the  hair  pompadoured  and  powdered  or  sweeping  in  curls 
over  the  neck  and  shoulders,  completed  the  chief  outer  attractions  and 
adornments  of  a  Narragansett  lady  of  the  early  years  of  the  eighteenth 


48o  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

century.  In  such  fine  array,  appeared  the  sweethearts,  wives  and  daugh- 
ters of  the  great  families  of  Narragansett — the  Robinsons,  the  Hazards, 
the  ChampHns,  the  Brentons,  the  Nileses,  the  Willetts,  the  Updikes,  the 
Potters,  Stantons,  Cranstons,  Browns  and  associate  famihes. 

The  dress  of  a  Narragansett  gentleman,  bereft  of  all  the  artist's 
adornings,  was  artistic  and  befitting  social  etiquette.  In  the  ballroom, 
and  on  all  full  dress  occasions,  men  wore  scarlet  velvet  coats  and  swords, 
with  laced  ruffles  over  their  hands,  hair  combed  back,  clubbed,  frizzled  or 
queued  behind,  powdered  and  pomatumed,  small  clothes,  silk  stockings 
with  silver  knee  buckles  and  shoes  with  silver  buckles,  This  dress  suited 
the  stately  minuet  with  its  thirty-six  different  positions  and  changes  and 
was  a  fitting  accompaniment  to  the  rich  brocades,  cushioned  headgear, 
and  high  heeled  shoes  of  their  lady  partners.  Such  exuberance  in  dress 
suggested  lives  of  festivities,  luxurious  ease  and  dissipation.  The  ideal- 
ism of  the  century  found  its  satisfaction  in  the  indulgences  of  sumptuous 
dinners,  in  costly  viands  and  in  the  ravishment  of  foods,  through  the 
intoxicating  aid  of  "wines  that  ran  redder  than  blood."  In  the  large  recep- 
tion halls  of  spacious  farm  mansions,  under  the  inflow  of  passionate  music 
from  slave  lips  that  had  never  tasted  Falernian  wines,  save  in  the  over- 
flow of  Narragansett  bowls,  youths  and  maids  and  young  married  life 
passed  the  hours  of  the  night  in  passionate  revelry  and  left  the  ballroom 
in  the  early  morning  twilight,  by  the  aid  of  attendants,  to  sleep  away  the 
intoxicants  of  the  giddy  fashion  of  the  Narragansett  planter.  These 
festive  and  hilarious  seasons  would  sometimes  continue  for  days  and  the 
banquets  among  the  landed  proprietors  continued  during  the  harvest 
season.  Corn-husking  introduced  the  autumnal  festivals,  and  invitations 
went  out  to  all  the  families  of  the  countryside.  In  return,  the  slaves  of 
the  guests  were  sent  to  the  host  to  aid  by  their  services  and  to  enter  into 
the  hilarity  of  the  occasion,  as  bountiful  provision  was  made  for  them  and 
like  amusements  were  enjoyed  by  them  in  the  great  kitchens  and  slave 
houses  of  the  farms.  The  harvest  moon  shone  upon  great  companies  of 
both  sexes  and  of  all  ages,  except  young  children,  in  front  of  the  har- 
vested, unhusked  pile,  stripping  the  ears  of  Rhode  Island  corn  and  throw- 
ing them  on  the  growing  heap,  reserving  the  red  ears  for  the  kissing 
frolic  that  was  to  follow.  Stories,  laughter,  fun,  patriotic  and  love  songs 
made  the  early  evening  hours  short  and  enjoyable,  when,  at  the  signal  of 
the  host  leader,  the  party  adjourned  to  the  great  dining  hall,  where  hot 
roasts,  baked  puddings,  pies,  cake,  sauces,  wines,  cider,  whiskey  and  all 
other  creature  comforts  were  expensively  and  bountifully  provided  and 
vigorously  attacked  by  greedy  appetites,  sharpened  by  the  bright  autumnal 
evening  air,  in  vigorous  bodily  and  mental  exercise.  After  the  feast, 
congratulations  to  the  host  and  hostess  and  the  retirement  of  the  older 


THE  NARRAGANSETT  COUNTRY  481 

group  to  their  homes,  the  major  remnant  of  young  folks  now  repaired  to 
the  dance  hall,  when, 

"No  sleep  'till  morn  where  youth  and  pleasure  meet, 
To  chase  the  glowing  hours  with  Hying  feet." 

It  is  said  that  for  more  than  a  century,  the  husking  festival  was  in- 
dulged in  by  the  great  landed  proprietors,  a  single  farmer  having  had  a 
thousand  bushels  of  corn  husked  in  one  day. 

The  Christmas  holidays  were  great  festive  occasions  and  the  twelve 
days  of  the  season  were  devoted  to  all  the  proprieties  of  the  plantations. 
.-Ml  relations,  by  blood  or  marriage,  were  accorded  this  largest  generous 
hospitality  both  in  giving  and  receiving.  The  circuit  of  the  planters'  homes 
was  open  to  all  and  acquaintances  were  made  as  welcome  as  relatives  and 
often  more  graciously  entertained.  Every  member  of  the  plantation  had 
his  favorite  horse  and  servant,  the  servant  being  a  necessary  companion 
to  open  gates  and  to  care  for  the  horse,  as  there  were  few  public  roads, 
and,  in  the  eighteenth  century,  but  few  carriages.  Drift-ways  connected 
the  plantation  and  a  ride  of  a  few  miles  encountered  twice  as  many  gates 
as  miles,  oftentimes  a  half  dozen  bars  were  a  substitute  for  a  substantial 
gate.  Until  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  Quidnesset,  Boston 
Neck,  Point  Judith  and  other  sections  of  the  Narragansett  country  had 
no  public  roads  and  to  our  own  day  that  section  has  fewer  public  ways 
than  any  other  part  of  Rhode  Island.  The  horse  and  his  rider  and  slave 
servant  were  adapted  to  such  a  land  of  gates,  bars  and  drift-ways. 

The  great  occasion  of  the  elder  day  in  the  south  plantations  was  the 
wedding.  Mr.  Updike  says  the  exhibition  of  expensive  apparel  and  the 
attendance  of  guests  almost  exceeds  belief.  It  is  said  that  the  wedding 
was  the  great  gala  occasion  at  old  Narragansett.  One  of  these  great  days 
was  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Nicholas  Gardiner  and  Miss  Hannah  Champlin, 
about  1754,  when  six  hundred  guests  attended.  We  have  no  record  of 
the  dress  of  the  groom  and  bride,  nor  of  the  array  of  beauty,  courtliness, 
dress,  fashion,  but  one's  imagination  may  have  a  wide  flight  in  even  a 
faint  conception  of  the  parties  to  such  an  event ; — in  later  times  Mr. 
Gardiner,  now  a  Narragansett  squire,  dressed  in  the  rich  style  of  former 
days,  with  a  cocked  hat,  full-bottomed  white  wig,  snuff-coloured  coat 
and  waistcoat  with  deep  pockets,  cape  low  so  as  not  to  disturb  the  wig, 
and  at  the  same  time  expose  the  large  silver  stock  buckle  of  the  plaited 
neckcloth  of  white  linen  cambric,  small  clothes,  and  white-topped  boots 
finely  polished.  In  such  a  fashion  was  the  old-time  south  county  country 
gentleman  arrayed.  Even  Solomon  in  all  his  glory  was  not  arrayed  as 
one  of  the  ancient  planters  of  Narragansett,  and  the  Queen  of  Sheba 

K  1-31  ■    ' 


482  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

might  have  taken  lessons  in  dress  and  manners  of  a  Narragansett  matron 
of  the  old  school. 

The  healthy  amusements  and  recreation  of  the  wealthy  land-owners 
of  Narragansett  were  narrow  and  homely  compared  with  those  of  the 
wealthy  of  the  last  half  century.  Hunting  and  fishing  yielded  both  delight- 
ful recreation  and  profit.  Deer  roamed  the  forests  plentifully.  Bear  and 
wolves  were  not  uncommon,  while  foxes,  the  red  and  the  gray,  were 
common  and  were  hunted  on  special  mounts,  with  hounds  and  horns, 
ladies  joining  gentlemen  in  the  chase.  The  woods  were  literally  full  of 
wild  pigeons,  partridges,  quail,  woodcocks,  squirrel  and  rabbits,  while  the 
fresh  ponds  and  salt  sea  were  alive  with  innumerable  food  fish.  In  the 
fall  and  winter  seasons,  sea  water-fowl  were  abundant  and  wild-geese  and 
ducks  furnished  an  endless  supply  of  deliciouss  food  for  the  tables  of  big 
families  and  their  servant  retinue.  Prodigal  men  drew  on  nature's  prod- 
igal resources  for  the  support  of  prodigal  estates. 

The  plantations  of  the  landed  aristocracy  of  Rhode  Island  were  as 
extensive  and  as  well  peopled  as  those  of  the  Virginia  or  Carolina  planters. 
Major  John  Mason,  of  Pequot  fame,  in  a  letter  to  the  Colony  of  Con- 
necticut, dated  Aug.  3,  1670,  says:  "Those  places,  (in  Narragansett), 
that  are  in  any  way  considerable,  are  already  taken  up  by  several  men,  in 
farms  and  large  tracts  of  land,  some  having  five,  six,  and  ten  miles  square 
— yea,  and  some  I  suppose,  have  much  more,  which  you  or  some  of  youes 
may  see  or  feel  here  after.  These  things  I  know  to  be  true."  Updike 
states  that  the  original  tract  owned  by  Richard  Smith,  father  and  son,  at 
Cocumscussue,  was  three  miles  wide  and  nine  miles  long.  The  farm  of 
Robert  Hazard  included  the  Jenckes  farm  to  the  south  end  of  Boston 
Neck,  and  extended  west  to  and  including  the  territory  of  Peacedale.  He 
had  also  extensive  ranges  for  cattle  and  horses  near  Worden's  Pond, 
occupying  about  12,000  acres,  the  land  of  greatest  value  on  the  Hazard 
farm  was  2,000  acres  on  Boston  Neck  and  the  bottom  lands  of  the  Petta- 
quamscut  rivers.  Lieut.  Gov.  William  Robinson's  farm  embraced  the 
north  end  of  Point  Judith.  Col.  Joseph  Stanton  of  Charleston  had  one 
tract  four  and  a  half  miles  long  and  two  miles  wide;  he  kept  forty  slaves 
and  forty  horses,  with  a  great  herd  of  cows  which  made  a  great  dairy, 
besides  other  farm  products.  His  son  Lodowick  Stanton  kept  thirty  cows 
on  one  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  the  big  farm  of  his  father.  Col.  Chris- 
topher Qiamplin  had  over  1,000  acres  in  one  tract,  kept  thirty-five  horses, 
fifty-five  cows,  about  seven  hundred  sheep  and  owned  at  least  fifty  slaves 
to  do  the  work.  Hezekiah  Babcock  of  Hopkinton  improved  800  acres. 
James  Babcock  of  Westerly  owned  two  thousand  acres  with  horses,  cattle, 
sheep  and  slaves  to  the  limit  of  his  estate.  Colonel  Joseph  Noyes  had 
four  hundred  acres  with  twenty-two  horses,  twenty-five  cows  and  about 


THE  NARRAGANSETT  COUNTRY  483 

twenty-five  slaves.  His  son,  later,  kept  fifty-two  cows  on  the  same  farm. 
Col.  Daniel  Updike,  Attorney  General  of  the  Colony,  owned  three  thou- 
sand acres  of  land,  with  the  usual  furnishings  of  cattle,  horses  and  slaves. 
Samuel  Sewall,  son  of  the  celebrated  witch-judge,  Samuel  Sewall,  of 
Massachusetts,  inherited  from  his  mother,  sixteen  hundred  acres  on  Point 
Judith,  Mrs.  Sewall  being  the  daughter  of  John  Hull,  the  mint-master  of 
Boston.  Hannah  Hull,  the  only  child  of  John  and  heiress  of  the  Narra- 
gansett  lands,  left  the  whole  of  a  large  fortune,  coming  from  her  father, 
to  her  two  sons,  Samuel  and  Joseph  Sewall,  D.  D.,  of  Boston.  The  Gard- 
iners,  Nileses,  Bulls,  Brentons  and  others  of  the  old  families  owned  great 
tracts  of  valuable  farm  lands.  The  smaller  farms  averaged  about  three 
hundred  acres.  All  these  ancient  farms,  large  and  small,  were  improved 
by  the  manual  labor  of  Indians  and  negro  slaves.  Corn,  tobacco,  butter, 
cheese  and  wool  were  the  staple  products  of  the  farm  for  home  consump- 
tion and  for  market,  while  horses  were  raised  for  export. 

The  raising  of  tobacco  was  introduced  by  Dr.  Moffat  for  the  purpose 
of  the  manufacture  of  snuff  to  supply  the  place  of  the  great  quantity  im- 
ported from  Glasgow.  Finding  no  one  in  this  country  capable  of  setting 
up  a  snuff  mill,  he  wrote  to  Scotland  and  obtained  a  millwright  by  the 
name  of  Gilbert  Stuart.  In  175 1,  a  co-partnership  was  formed  between 
Dr.  Thomas  Moffat  and  Edward  Cole  of  Newport  and  Gilbert  Stuart  of 
North  Kingstown  to  erect  a  mill  and  manufacture  snuff  at  Pettaquamscutt. 
The  site  selected  for  the  mill  was  at  a  fall,  where  the  Mattatoxet  fresh 
water  river  reaches  the  head  of  the  Narrow  of  Pettaquamscutt  tidal  river, 
in  the  southeastern  part  of  North  Kingstown,  where  there  had  been  a  corn 
gristmill  for  many  years.  The  house  and  mill  were  one  building,  the 
machinery  for  the  factory  being  in  the  basement,  with  the  dwelling  house 
above.  Traces  of  a  great  fire  place  and  machinery  have  been  recently 
found  in  the  basement.  This  was  the  first  mill  erected  in  New  England 
for  the  manufacture  of  this  once  strange  but  popular  luxury,  indulged  in 
by  both  sexes.  The  house  over  the  mill  became  the  home  of  Gilbert 
Stuart  who  had  married,  in  1751,  Elizabeth  Anthony,  daughter  of  Altro 
and  Susanna  Hefferman  Anthony,  of  Newport,  reputed  to  be  a  woman 
of  remarkable  beauty.  Gilbert  Stuart,  Jr.,  was  born  in  the  little  room 
in  the  northeast  corner  of  the  house,  first  floor,  December  3,  1755. 

"Rhode  Island  cheese,"  the  best  made  in  New  England,  came  from 
Narragansett  farms.  The  biggest  dairy  farm  milked  about  one  hundred 
and  ten  cows,  cut  two  hundred  tons  of  hay,  made  about  thirteen  thousand 
pounds  of  cheese,  besides  a  large  amount  of  butter.  Another  farmer 
made  ten  thousand  pounds  of  cheese  from  seventy-three  cows  in  five 
months  and  besides  the  cheese  each  cow  would  produce  from  seventy  to 
eighty  pounds  of  butter.     Each  milch  cow  required  two  acres  of  good 


484  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

pasture.  The  Sevvall  farm  kept  one  hundred  cows  and  produced  thirteen 
thousand  pounds  of  cheese  annually.  Nicholas  Hazard  from  forty-two 
cows  produced  nine  thousand  two  hundred  pounds  of  cheese.  Joseph  N. 
Austin  produced  eight  thousand  pounds  from  thirty-six  cows.  Rowland 
Robinson  improved  a  thousand  acres,  had  an  immense  dairy  and  obtained 
an  average  of  two  pounds  of  cheese  a  day  from  each  cow.  It  is  said  that 
the  wife  of  Richard  Smith,  Sen.,  brought  from  Gloucestershire,  England, 
to  New  England  the  recipe  for  making  the  celebrated  Cheshire  cheese,  and 
by  it  the  Narragansett  cheese  was  made.  Cream  was  used  in  cheese  giving 
to  it  richness  and  fine  flavor.  The  price  of  the  cheese  was  ten  dollars  per 
one  hundred  pounds.  When  the  demand  for  butter  became  general  and 
the  price  of  butter  exceeded  that  of  cheese,  cream  was  used  for  the  more 
valuable  product  and  the  price  and  quality  of  the  cheese  were  both 
diminished. 

The  Narragansett  dairy  was  supervised  by  the  mistress  superior  of 
the  house.  Mrs.  Robert  Hazard  had  twelve  negro  women  as  dairy  maids, 
each  of  whom  had  a  girl  assistant,  each  woman  of  the  twelve  making 
from  twelve  to  twenty- four  cheeses  a  day.  One  cheese  vat  held  nearly 
a  bushel.  The  grass  of  the  early  Colonial  days  was  superior  in  quality 
and  quantity,  producing  in  butter  and  cheese  nearly  double  that  of  later 
days.  The  milk  of  twelve  cows  was  cared  for  by  each  of  the  twelve 
dairy  women.  Mr.  Hazard  states  that  the  hay  fields  and  meadows  "grew 
full  of  grass,"  as  is  the  case  to-day  on  new  prairie  land  in  the  West. 
Four  thousand  sheep  were  kept  on  the  Hazard  farm,  the  wool  being  manu- 
factured into  clothing,  as  was  the  flax,  by  and  for  his  own  household. 
Late  in  life,  after  a  division  of  his  farm  among  his  children  he  congratu- 
lated himself  on  the  reduction  of  his  family  for  the  winter,  "being  only 
seventy  in  parlour  and  kitchen." 

The  Narragansett  country  was  the  slave  paradise  of  the  northern 
colonies.  Every  farm  had  its  quota  and  the  family  life  of  the  slaves  was 
recognized  and  protected.  Labor  indoors  or  out  was  not  excessive,  the 
relation  of  master  to  slave  was  kind  and  humane  and  punishments  for 
offenses  were  usually  mild  and  corrective.  The  social  and  convivial  life 
of  the  masters,  mistresses  and  young  people  was  communicated  to  the 
servant  class  and  the  natural  happy-go-easy  spirit  of  the  slaves  was  made 
more  joyous  by  the  examples  of  their  superiors.  Domestic  slavery  in 
Rhode  Island  was  the  outcome  of  the  demand  for  labor,  under  the  best 
conditions  for  happy  productivity.  The  well-to-do  land  class  had  no 
occasion  to  use  the  lash,  for  competence  and  quick  returns  of  farm  prod- 
ucts sustained  the  optimistic  spirit  of  contentment  and  satisfaction.  The 
slave  knew  no  shackles  except  for  crime,  and  great  freedom  was  allowed 
within  plantation  limits.     Indulgence  rather  than  severity  characterized 


THE  NARRAGANSETT  COUNTRY  485 

the  Xarragansett  masters.  A  fair  illustration  of  the  relation  of  slave 
and  master  appears  in  the  annual  election  of  a  Governor  on  the  third 
Saturday  in  June,  in  imitation  of  the  white  people.  This  event  was  par- 
ticipated in  by  both  negro  and  Indian  slaves,  who  stood  on  an  equal  foot- 
ing, even  in  the  land  where  the  ancestors  of  the  Indians  held  absolute 
sway  as  freemen  of  the  forests  and  seas.  The  day  was  a  festive  as  well 
as  an  anxious  one,  for  party  spirit  and  personal  likes  and  dislikes  held 
sway  in  savage  breasts.  The  slaves  of  each  family  assumed  the  pride  and 
rank  of  their  master  and  it  was  det,'rading  to  the  reputation  of  the 
owner,  if  his  family  slaves  appeared  at  the  polls  on  election  day  in  poor 
apparel  or  with  less  money  in  his  pocket  than  the  slaves  of  another  family 
of  equal  wealth.  The  horses  of  the  planters  were  all  surrendered  on 
election  day  to  the  slaves,  and  with  queues  real  or  false,  heads  pomatumed 
and  powdered,  cocked  hats,  mounted  on  the  best  Narragansett  pacers, 
sometimes  wearing  their  master's  swords,  with  their  ladies  on  pillions 
on  blooded  steeds,  they  pranced  to  the  great  mansion  house  or  grove  for 
election,  arriving  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  forenoon. 

Now  began  a  series  of  moves  that  no  artist's  pencil  has  ever  put  on 
canvass.  The  assemblies  were  large,  for  the  politico-festal  day  drew  the 
whole  population  to  witness  its  semi-serious  drollness.  It  was  the  real 
opera  bouffe,  staged  by  the  most  original  actors.  Dismounting  from  their 
pacers  at  the  election-center,  the  pacers  were  taken  in  charge  by  their 
owners  or  appointed  servants  and  the  African  and  Narragansett  blend, 
lords  and  ladies  of  a  day,  entered  at  once  upon  the  active  canvass  for  the 
candidates  of  their  choice.  "Parmatecriiig"  ( parliamentcering)  had  been 
going  on  for  weeks  in  the  plantations.  Family  pride  and  influence  had 
been  exerted  and  even  planters'  money  spent  for  favorite  family  candi- 
dates, in  all  of  which  the  white  owners  had  taken  an  active  interest. 
Tables  with  rich  refreshments,  including  fashionable  side  board  drinks, 
were  spread,  and  the  great  throng  of  expectant  voters  were  solicited  to 
eat,  drink  and  be  merry,  at  the  expense  of  the  rival  candidates.  For 
three  hours  the  day's  camp  was  the  scene  of  uproarous  electioneering, 
mingled  with  singing  and  the  music  of  the  fife  and  drum.  At  one  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  the  election  proper  began.  The  vote  was  taken  by  rang- 
ing the  friends  of  each  candidate  in  rows,  the  candidate  at  the  head  of 
his  line  of  friends  and  supporters.  It  may  be  easily  assumed  that  the 
masters  were  not  idle  spectators  in  the  formation  of  the  voting  lines, 
which  were  under  the  direction  of  a  chief  marshal  with  assistants.  Guy 
Watson,  who  distinguished  himself  in  the  negro  regiment  under  Col. 
Christopher  Greene  at  Red  Bank,  New  Jersey,  acted  as  chief  marshal, 
after  the  Revolution.  Tumultuous  noise  and  excitement  with  party  wrang- 
ling ruled  the  great  throng,  until  the  election  proper  began,  when  the 


4)86  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

marshal  proclaimed  silence,  and  the  lines  began  to  form,  after  which  no 
man  could  change  from  one  leader  to  another.  While  the  men  only  voted, 
the  women  had  their  "innings"  in  support  of  their  favorite  candidates 
until  the  party  lines  were  formed,  when  all  electioneering  was  at  an  end. 
Silence  reigned,  until  the  count  was  made  and,  in  a  loud  voice,  the  chief 
marshal  announced  the  name  of  the  successful  candidate.  Shouts  of 
victory,  loud  and  prolonged,  followed  and  all  were  invited  to  the  election 
entertainment,  which  corresponded  in  extravagance  to  the  wealth  of  the 
master  of  the  Governor-elect. 

The  inauguration  followed,  under  the  afternoon  sun  of  a  long  June 
day.  At  the  inaugural  dinner  the  Governor  took  the  great  chair  of  state 
at  the  head  of  the  long  table,  with  his  defeated  rival  in  a  seat  on  his  right 
and  his  lady  on  his  left.  The  Governor  had  been  declared  elected  for  the 
ensuing  year,  and  the  feast  of  meats  and  the  flowing  bowl  made  election 
day  happiness  supremely  complete.  Neither  haste  or  waste  ruled  the 
festal  hour,  for  the  hungry  crowd 

"Devoured  the  cattle,  fowl  and  fish, 
And  left  behind  an  empty  dish." 

According  to  custom,  toasts,  speeches  and  music  followed  the  dinner. 
The  defeated  candidate,  introduced  by  the  marshal,  drank  the  first  toast 
in  honor  of  his  successful  rival  and  the  fragrance  and  flavor  of  the  cheery 
cup  seemed  to  soothe  party  strife  and  all  animosities  of  pre-election 
advocacy  and  effort  were  drowned  in  the  precious  contents  of  the  election 
bowl.  The  balance  of  the  later  afternoon  was  spent  in  dancing,  music, 
love-making,  games  and  athletics.  About  1800,  a  slave  of  the  Hon.  Elisha 
R.  Potter  was  elected  Governor,  the  canvass  for  which  was  very  e.xpen- 
sive  to  his  master.  Soon  after  election,  Mr.  Potter,  in  conversation  with 
the  Slave-Governor  remarked  that  one  or  the  other  must  give  up  politics 
or  the  great  cost  of  the  campaigns  would  ruin  both.  Governor  John  de- 
cided to  abandon  politics  in  favor  of  his  master,  and  retired  to  private 
life.  It  can  be  readily  seen  that  where  such  events  occurred  of  which  the 
one  here  described  was  a  sample,  the  relation  between  master  and  slave 
must  be  most  kindly,  and  that  a  reciprocal  regard  and  service  made  Rhode 
Island  slavery  an  institution,  educational,  moral,  elevating,  and  in  the 
main  beneficial  and  serviceable  to  all  concerned,  at  least  that  was  true  in 
the  Narragansett  country. 

Referring  again  to  the  products  of  the  Narragansett  country,  we  must 
not  omit  one  of  its  most  noted, — the  Narragansett  pacer, — the  first  Amer- 
ican racer  that  could  make  a  mile  in  less  than  three  minutes.  In  1677, 
Mr.  John  Hull,  of  Boston,  maker  of  pine  tree  shillings,  addressing  one 
of  his  Pettaquamscutt  partners,  suggested  if  a  good  stone  wall  was  built 


THE  NARRAGANSETT  COUNTRY  487 

across  the  upper  end  of  Point  Judith  Neck  so  that  no  mongrel  breed  could 
debase  them,  that  they  might  raise  large  and  fair  marcs  and  horses  for 
home  use  and  export  to  the  West  Indies.  The  fence  was  probably  built, 
for,  a  few  years  later,  horses  were  so  plentiful  that  special  regulations 
were  made  for  their  registration  and  in  1686  Gov.  Dtidley  ordertd  the 
seizure  and  sale  of  thirty  horses,  the  proceeds  to  be  used  for  building  a 
jail.  The  pacer  belonged  to  a  distinct  class  or  breed,  as  was  shown  by 
size,  color,  gait  and  flectness  in  racing.  The  pacer  was  of  medium  size, 
of  a  bay  or  black  color.  A  long  head  and  neck  were  supported  by  a  deep 
heavy  chest,  with  a  small  loin  girth  and  long,  thin  legs.  In  racing,  the 
head  and  neck  seemed  on  a  horizontal  line  with  the  fore  shoulders,  the 
animal  seeming  to  fly  over  the  ground  rather  than  to  run.  His  pedigree 
is  unknown  and  one  theory  is  as  good  as  another,  although  the  Point 
Judith  wild  horse  origin  is  not  credible.  The  sire  of  the  pacer  must  have 
been  imported  and  the  story  that  he  was  brought  from  Spain  by  William 
Robinson  may  be  tnie,  but  not  probable.  The  more  important  fact 
remains  that  the  Narragansett  planter  was  a  natural  horseman  and  an 
excellent  trainer  of  horses,  and  that  almost  any  breed  of  good  honest 
blood,  English,  French,  Spanish  or  West  Indian  would  be,  in  the  hands 
of  a  gentleman  of  leisure  and  spirit,  as  clay  in  the  hands  of  the  moulder. 
Horse  racing  was  a  common  amusement  of  the  planter  class,  and  when 
the  training  for  the  pacing  habit  became  an  occupation  of  the  hitherto 
leisure  people,  both  pleasure  and  profit  were  combined.  Equine  intelli- 
gence and  sportive  instinct  readily  accept  and  enjoy  the  training  for 
strength,  speed  and  endurance,  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  accept  that  the 
Narragansett  pacer  was  the  creation  of  the  Narragansett  planter,  dealing 
sympathetically  with  the  most  human  of  all  animals,  the  horse.  It  was 
the  day  of  the  horse,  and  horse  and  rider  won  glorious  conquests  of  speed 
of  efficiency  and  valor.  An  English  traveller,  writing  in  i/^)S,  says, 
"Narragansett  has  been  famed  for  an  excellent  breed  of  pacing  horses, 
remarkable  for  their  speed  and  hardiness,  and  for  enduring  the  fatigues 
of  a  journey;  this  breed  of  horses  has,  however,  much  depreciated  of 
late,  the  best  mares  having  been  purchased  by  the  people  from  the  west- 
ward." Dr.  James  MacSparran,  missionary  in  Kingstown,  wrote  in 
1759:  "The  Produce  of  this  Colony  is  principally  Butter  and  Cheese,  fat 
Cattle,  Wool  and  fine  Horses,  that  are  exported  to  all  parts  of  English 
America.  They  are  remarkable  for  fleetness  and  swift  Pacing,  and  I  have 
seen  some  of  them  pace  a  mile  in  a  little  more  than  two  minutes,  a  good 
deal  less  than  three."  It  is  probable  that  the  distinguished  cleric  had  no 
stop-watch  by  which  to  time  the  races. 

Updike  tells  us  that  the  landed  aristocracy  showed  an  early  regard 
for  the  proper  education  of  their  children.     Books  were  few  in  quantity, 


|88  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

but  solid  in  quality  and  well  read  or  studied.  Many  of  the  old  families 
of  Narragansett  had  libraries  of  the  best  English,  Latin  and  Greek  authors. 
Well  educated  English  tutors  emigrated  to  the  New  England  colonies  and 
were  employed  by  the  wealthy  families  to  instruct  their  sons  and  daugh- 
ters. Individual  instruction  developed  individual  characteristics,  so 
marked  in  the  men  and  women  of  the  early  colonial  days.  Private  educa- 
tion developed  the  talents  of  the  few.  Public  education  tended  to  level 
all  to  a  standardized  uniformity.  Learned  clergymen  of  all. creeds  became 
the  tutors  in  Narragansett  families.  In  addition  to  his  widely  scattered 
parish  work  as  an  Episcopal  priest;  Dr.  MacSparran  found  time  to  instruct 
the  lads  and  young  ladies  in  the  classics  and  mathematics  of  that  early  day. 
Rev.  John  Checkley,  a  graduate  of  Oxford,  was  a  popular  instructor  of  the 
Updikes  and  Hazards ;  Rev.  James  Honeyman,  of  Newport,  was  an  edu- 
cational magnet  that  drew  young  fellows  of  talent  and  ambition  to  his 
study  to  enjoy  the  best  learning.  Daniel  Vernon,  English  born  and  edu- 
cated, was  in  his  later  life  a  teacher  in  the  family  of  Daniel  LIpdike,  and 
died  in  that  service.  Dr.  MacSparran,  Mathew  Robinson,  Daniel  Updike, 
Rev.  Mr.  Fayerweather  and  the  Ha,zard  families  had  valuable  collections 
of  classical  and  English  books,  while  Colonel  LTpdike  and  Matthew  Rob- 
inson had  large  libraries  of  treasured  books,  pamphlets  and  manuscripts 
surpassed  by  few  in  any  of  the  colonies.  Colonel  Robinson,  who  owned 
a  farm  of  eight  hundred  acres,  which  included  the  lands  about  the  station 
at  Kingston,  was  a  collector  of  rare  and  valuable  pamphlets  and  his  library 
was  called  the  largest  and  most  valuable  in  New  England  at  that  period — 
1709-1795.  He  was  a  careful  student  of  colonial  history  and  made  abun- 
dant notes  concerning  men  and  events,  which  have,  unfortunately,  been 
destroyed.  During  the  whole  of  the  eighteenth  century,  Newport  and 
Narragansett  were  the  literary  centers  of  New  England  and  the  eminent 
men,  who  were  born  and  reared  in  the  two  south  counties  of  the  Colony 
of  Rhode  Island,  are  the  most  conclusive  evidence  of  the  intellectual 
supremacy  of  these  two  remarkable  sources  of  power  and  influence. 

The  first  signer  of  the  "Company  of  Redwood  Library"  at  Newport 
was  Colonel  Daniel  LIpdike,  1693- 1757,  born  at  Cocumscussuc,  great- 
grandson  of  Richard  Smith  and  Gysbert  op-ten  Dyck,  the  latter  marrying 
the  daughter  of  Richard  Smith.  The  titles  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
volumes  of  the  Colonel  Daniel  Updike  library  may  be  found  in  volume  i, 
"History  of  the  Narragansett  Church,"  edition  1907,  pages  422-23.  The 
Robinson  library  was  sold  at  his  death  and  is  lost  beyond  memory. 

Concerning  slavery,  negro  and  Indian,  in  the  Narragansett  country, 
some  more  things  should  be  said,  not  by  way  of  justification  of  the  com- 
merce in  human  flesh,  but  in  illustration  of  the  safeguards  established  for 
the  protection  of  the  slave  from  his  own  savage  instincts  and  passions. 


THE  NARRAGAXSKTT  COUNTRY  489 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  preat  plantations  afforded  ample  oppor- 
tunity for  a  large  number  of  laborers,  beyond  the  ordinary  supply  from 
native  sources,  and  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  the  development  of  great 
farms  could  have  been  carried  out  without  cheap  slave  labor.  At  any  rate 
the  planters  adopted  the  slave  system  then  in  vogue  in  the  West  Indies  and 
in  all  the  colonies  to  a  greater  or  a  less  degree.  In  1730  South  Kingstown 
had  a  population  of  965  whites,  333  negroes  and  223  Indians — or  656 
slaves  to  965  whites — forty  per  cent,  slave  to  sixty  per  cent.  free.  In 
1748  the  town  had  1,405  whites  and  573  negroes  and  Indians.  It  appears 
that  the  ratio  of  slaves  had  decreased  owing  to  the  greater  productivity  of 
the  whites  and  the  increased  death  rate  of  slave  babies.  But  this  Narra- 
gansett  county  gave  the  slave  population  a  ratio  in  excess  of  all  sections 
of  the  colonies  north  of  Virginia,  and  this  ratio  continued,  with  little  varia- 
tion, until  the  Revolutionary  War. 

The  slave  code  of  Rhode  Island,  which  in  large  measure  sprang  out 
of  the  needs  of  the  south  county,  shows  a  strictness  growing  out  of  the 
demands  of  the  people  for  safeguarding  themselves  and  for  keeping  the 
slaves  at  home  on  the  plantations.  A  summary  of  colonial  and  town  laws 
is  suggestive  of  prudential  care:  (1704-1750)  No  negroes  or  Indians, 
freemen  or  slaves,  to  be  abroad  after  nine  at  night  on  penalty  of  not 
exceeding  fifteen  stripes;  no  housekeeper  to  entertain  a  negro  or  Indian 
slave  without  first  consent  of  the  owner;  no  housekeeper  to  suffer  any 
servant  or  slave  to  have  any  dancing,  gaming  or  diversion  of  any  kind, 
on  penalty  of  fifty  pounds  or  one  month's  imprisonment — if  the  host  was 
a  free  negro  or  Indian,  he,  she  or  they  should  no  longer  be  allowed  to  keep 
house,  but  should  be  "dispossessed  of  his,  her  or  their  house  or  houses, 
and  shall  be  put  into  some  private  family  to  work  *  *  *  for  the 
space  of  one  year,  the  wages  accruing  to  be  for  the  benefit  of  the  town." 
In  South  Kingstown  a  law  was  passed  that  if  any  negro  slave  be  found 
at  any  house  of  a  free  negro,  both  the  slave  and  free  negro  should  be 
whipped.  In  1726  the  town  prohibited  negroes  and  Indians  from  holding 
social  out-of-door  gatherings.  Liquor  could  not  be  sold  to  a  slave  with- 
out the  master's  permission.  To  prevent  negroes  from  acquiring  property 
in  cattle,  a  law  was  passed  forbidding  negroes  keeping  "any  stock  of  crea- 
tures in  this  town  of  any  sort"  under  a  penalty  of  thirty-one  lashes.  These 
laws  show  the  protection  thrown  around  the  slaves  against  the  attemjit  of 
litiuor  dealers  to  sell  them  their  wares,  and  also  against  the  efforts  of  free 
negroes  to  win  the  slaves  away  from  their  homes  and  masters.  At  the 
same  time  these  laws  protected  the  masters  in  preserving  home  discipline 
and  in  protecting  the  safety  of  their  chattel  property.  Very  little  concern 
was  exercised  for  the  moral  and  religious  education  of  the  slave  in  the 
south  county  before  the  coming  of  Dr.  MacSparran.  Inspired  by  the 
influence  of  the  society  which  sent  him  to  America,  he  reported,  in  1741, 


490  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

that  he  had  begun  "catechetical  lectures"  to  the  negro  slaves,  spending  an 
hour  each  Lord's  Day  in  instructing  them  religion.  On  one  occasion  he 
reports  an  hundred  present.  The  English  society  issued  "an  address  to 
masters  and  mistresses  of  families."  *  *  *  "Let  me  beseech  you  to 
consider  them  not  merely  as  slaves,  and  upon  the  same  level  with  laboring 
beasts,  but  as  men  slaves  and  women  slaves,  who  have  the  same  frame 
and  faculties  with  yourselves,  and  have  souls  capable  of  being  made 
happy,  and  reason  and  understanding  to  receive  instruction  in  order  to  it." 
As  the  Narragansett  planters  became,  in  large  measure,  attendants  and 
communicants  of  Dr.  MacSparran's  Episcopal  Church,  such  appeals,  added 
to  his  humane  and  Christian  labors,  changed  the  mental  attitude  of  mas- 
ters toward  their  slaves  and  consequently  a  better  condition  of  slave  life. 
The  Quaker  influence  in  Narragansett  not  only  modified  the  relations  of 
master  and  slave,  but  raised  up  a  body  of  men  and  women  in  the  com- 
munity, non-slave  holding,  whose  efforts  for  human  freedom  did  not  cease 
until  the  system  of  slavery  was  destroyed,  root  and  branch.  The  first 
break  in  the  chain  of  slavery  was  the  stoppage  of  importation,  in  which 
Rowland  Robinson  and  Colonel  Thomas  Hazard  were  engaged.  Newport 
still  stood  as  the  center  of  importation,  trade  and  the  distilling  of  rum, 
there  being  no  less  than  twenty-two  stills  in  that  town.  The  Rhode  Island 
law  of  1774  was  a  blow  at  the  slave  trade  as  well  as  at  the  ownership  of 
slaves.  Meanwhile,  social,  moral  and  economic  reasons  were  at  work 
towards  the  abolition  of  slavery,  not  only  in  its  stronghold  in  Narragan- 
sett, but  wherever  it  existed  in  New  England. 

As  early  as  1757  the  quiet  but  convincing  arguments  of  the  Quakers 
began  to  be  felt  in  South  Kingstown.  At  a  monthly  meeting  a  paper  was 
received  from  Richard  Smith  as  "his  testimony  against  keeping  slaves  and 
his  intention  to  free  his  negro  girl."  A  few  years  later  one  of  the  Rod- 
man family  was  troubled  in  mind  over  a  slave,  was  condemned  by  the 
quarterly  meeting  as  well  as  his  own,  and  a  full  denial  of  the  purchaser, 
on  account  of  his  buying  a  negro  slave,  was  called  for.  The  Rathbim  case 
of  conscience  is  an  interesting  one,  as  showing  the  nature  of  the  reform 
going  on  in  society  through  the  Quakers.  Mr.  Joshua  Rathbun  wrote  to 
the  monthly  meeting  of  Friends: 

I  hereby  acknowledge  that  I  have  acted  Disorderly  in  purchasing  a 
Negro  Slave  which  Disorder  I  was  ignorant  of  at  the  time  of  the  purchase, 
but  having  conversed  with  several  Friends  upon  the  subject  of  Slavery, 
have  gained  a  knowledge  I  was  heretofore  ignorant  of,  both  as  to  the  rules 
of  our  Society  as  well  as  the  nature  and  inconsistancy  of  making  slaves 
of  our  fellow  Creatures,  and  therefore  free  to  condemn  that  Incon- 
siderate Act  and  desire  Friends  to  pass  it  by,  etc.,  etc. 

Rathbun  gave  the  slave  to  his  son,  who  refused  to  give  him  his  free- 
dom and  father  and  son  were  dismissed  from  the  Friends'  society.    So  per- 


THE  NARRAGANSETT  COUNTRY  491 

sistent  were  the  Quakers  in  their  eflforts  to  set  their  own  people  in  Rhode 
Island  and  elsewhere  in  New  England  in  opposition  to  slavery,  that  in 
1782  no  slaves  were  known  to  be  held  by  members  of  the  New  England 
yearly  meeting. 

Thomas  R.  Hazard,  the  biographer  of  his  ancestor,  Thomas  Hazard, 
regards  him  the  first  man  of  great  influence  in  New  Elngland,  who  refused 
to  accept  his  father's  gift  of  slaves,  and  became  the  ardent  advocate  of 
emancipation.  Of  Rowland  Robinson's  conversion,  Higginson  tells  this 
story: 

The  Narraganset  Magnate,  Rowland  Robinson,  said  impulsively  one 
day,  "Shipmaster,  I  have  not  servants  enough  ;  go  fetch  me  some  from 
Guinea."  Upon  this,  the  master  of  a  small  packet  of  20  tons  belonging  to 
Mr.  Robinson,  fitted  her  out  at  once,  set  sail  for  Guinea  and  brought  home 
eighteen  slaves,  one  of  whom  was  the  son  of  an  African  King.  This 
employer  burst  into  tears  on  their  arrival,  his  order  not  having  been  seri- 
ously given. 

Another  writer  states  that  Mr.  Robinson,  when  he  saw  the  forlorn, 
woebegone  faces  of  the  men  and  women  as  they  came  from  the  slave 
packet,  some  of  them  too  feeble  to  stand  alone,  the  enormity  of  his  sin 
against  humanity  so  overcame  him  that  he  wept — nor  would  he  consent 
that  a  single  slave  that  fell  to  his  share,  twenty-eight  in  all,  should  be  sold, 
but  took  them  all  to  his  own  estate,  where  they  were  kindly  cared  for, 
though  held  as  slaves. 

It  is  a  fact  worthy  of  note  and  of  study  that  out  of  the  Narragansett 
country  has  been  raised  a  body  of  men  and  women  of  great  physical 
endowments,  mental  abilities,  educated  efficiency  and  high  moral  and 
Christian  character — much  larger  in  proportion  to  numbers  than  from 
any  other  section  of  Rhode  Island,  or  even  of  New  England.  Our  modem 
system  of  public  education  found  its  ablest  leaders  in  the  south  county, 
legislation  State  and  National  have  found  its  ablest  exponents  there,  juris- 
prudence its  strongest  advocates  and  expounders,  and  the  last  report  on 
slavery  in  Rhode  Island,  combining  history  with  present  conditions  and 
recommendations,  issued  from  the  pen  of  Hon.  Elisha  R.  Potter,  in  1844, 
a  descendant  of  the  old  families  of  the  Narragansett  county. 

The  Narragansett  planters  were  so  famous  and  set  such  a  pace  in  the 
Rhode  Island  history  of  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  that  the 
omission  of  a  number  of  leading  families  would  reflect  on  historic  fullness 
and  individualism.  Time  adds  romance  and  imaginative  superiority  to 
men,  who,  in  a  new  land,  attempted  to  set  up  the  standards  of  their  Eng- 
lish ancestry,  long  dead  across  the  seas,  and  in  that  effort  made  so  good 
their  endeavor.  Among  those  who  figured  in  the  King's  Province  we 
may  name  Jahleel  Brenton,  a  grandson  of  Governor  William  Brenton,  a 
founder  of  Newport.     He  married  Frances  Cranston,  daughter  of  Gov- 


492  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

ernor  Sam..el  Cranston,  who  gave  him  fifteen  children,  and  a  second  wife 
presented  him  with  seven  more;  Dr.  Joshua  Babcock,  born  1707,  a  friend 
and  correspondent  of  Frankhn,  the  first  citizen,  legislator  and  judge  of  his 
time;  Colonel  Joseph  Stanton,  of  Charlestown,  his  house  still  standing  on 
the  Pequot  Trail,  the  ancestor  of  a  noble  family ;  Colonel  Christopher 
Champlin,  a  great-grandson  of  Jeflfrey  Champlin ;  Deputy  Governor 
George  Hazard,  a  great-grandson  of  the  original  Thomas  Hazard,  and 
Deputy  Governor  Robert  Hazard,  also  a  great-grandson  of  Thomas; 
Colonel  John  Potter,  who  owned  a  valuable  library  and  grandsire  of 
Deputy  Governor  Samuel  J.  Potter ;  the  Gardiners  from  Newport,  four 
sons  of  George — Benoni,  Henry,  George  and  Nicholas ;  Colonel  Francis 
Willett,  a  grandson  of  Captain  Thomas  Willett,  of  Plymouth  and  Wanna- 
moiset ;  Deputy  Elisha  Cole,  one  of  the  largest  landholders  ;  Rouse  Helm, 
ancestor  of  a  family  of  distinction ;  Colonel  Daniel  Updike,  bom  at 
"Smith's  Castle,"  the  ancestor  of  the  eminent  men  of  his  name  in  Narra- 
gansett ;  Colonel  Robert  Brown,  son  of  Captain  John  Brown,  of  Newport; 
Dr.  Thomas  Moflfat,  a  learned  physician  and  tobacconist ;  Samuel  Sewall, 
son  of  the  noted  witch  judge  of  Massachusetts ;  Colonel  William  Codding- 
ton,  of  the  Governor  Coddington  family;  Jireh  Bull,  son  of  Governor 
Henry  Bull,  of  Newport ;  Dr.  MacSparran,  the  Episcopal  clergyman,  and 
many  others.  From  these  Narragansett  families  and  others  of  like  blood 
and  rank  have  arisen  men  and  women  who  have  figured  large  in  local  and 
State  history,  for  ability,  patriotism  and  heroism. 

The  south  county  has  given  to  the  State  the  services  of  Samuel  Ward, 
William  Gregory  and  George  H.  Utter  as  governors ;  of  lieutenant  gov- 
ernors there  have  been  George  Hazard,  William  Robinson,  Robert  Haz- 
ard, Samuel  J.  Potter,  George  Brown,  Jeremiah  Thurston,  Benjamin  B. 
Thurston,  John  J.  Reynolds,  Edwin  R.  Allen  and  George  H.  Utter;  Asa 
Potter,  S.  H.  Cross,  George  H.  Utter  and  Charles  P.  Bennett  have  been 
secretaries  of  State ;  John  G.  Perry  was  general  treasurer ;  Daniel  Updike 
was  attorney-general  for  eighteen  years ;  Elisha  R.  Potter  was  for  five 
years  commissioner  of  public  schools ;  of  speakers  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, Narragansett  has  furnished  Edward  Greenman,  Jeremiah 
Gould,  George  Hazard,  William  Robinson,  Francis  Willett,  Jeremiah 
Niles,  Joshua  Babcock,  Richard  Bailey,  Joseph  Stanton,  Jr.,  Elisha  R. 
Potter,  Christopher  Allen,  Sylvester  G.  Sherman  and  George  H.  Utter;  in 
the  Continental  Congress  sat  Jonathan  J.  Hazard,  Samuel  Ward,  Peter 
Phillips  and  Sylvester  Gardiner ;  our  first  Senator  in  the  United  States 
Congress  was  Joseph  Stanton,  Jr.,  who  was  succeeded  by  Samuel  J.  Pot- 
ter and  later  by  Nathan  F.  Dixon  and  Nathan  F.  Di.xon,  Jr. ;  in  the 
National  House  of  Representatives,  this  section  has  sent  Elisha  Potter,  Sr., 
Joseph  Stanton,  Jr.,  Elisha  R.  Potter,  Jr.,  Samuel  H.  Arnold,  Benjamin 
B.  Thurston,  Nathan  F.  Dixon,  James  M.  Pendleton,  Nathan  F.  Dixon, 


THE  NARRAGANSETT  COUNTRY  493 

Jr..  and  George  H.  Utter;  as  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State, 
Joshua  Habcock,  Thomas  Wells,  Stephen  Potter,  Sylvester  G.  Sherman 
and  Elisha  R.  Potter;  of  great  manufacturers,  the  Hazards,  Babcocks, 
Clarkcs  and  Arnolds  have  been  eminent ;  in  inventions,  the  Cottrells ;  in 
law,  the  Dixons,  Updikes,  Potters  and  Hazards ;  while  Rowland  Hazard, 
Sr.,  was  not  only  a  great  manufacturer,  but  also  a  financier  of  national 
size  and  as  a  scholar  and  metaphysician  the  peer  of  John  Stuart  Mill ; 
"Shepherd  Tom"  Hazard  will  long  hold  his  place  in  the  literary  annals  of 
New  England  as  the  author  of  "The  Johnny  Cake  Papers ;"  while  Elisha 
R.  Potter,  Wilkins  Updike,  Caroline  Hazard  and  Ellen  F.  Pendleton  hold 
high  rank  as  New  England  educators.  These  are  a  few  of  the  many  dis- 
tinguished persons  who  have  sprung  from  the  loins  of  the  Narragansett 
planters. 

The  songs,  stories  and  traditions  of  a  people  are  quite  as  instructive, 
inspiring  and  suggestive  as  are  the  more  formal  historic  records.  Errors 
often  occur  in  the  latter,  due  to  scant  knowledge,  wrong  viewpoint  or 
fault  in  the  mechanics  of  recorded  events,  but  the  virtue  and  value  of  the 
song  and  tradition  consist  in  their  illumination  of  the  commonplace  and 
lighter  phases  of  social  and  civil  life.  Doggerel  verse  or  homely  story 
often  outlive  stately  phrases  and  philosophic  truths.  The  Narragansett 
country  is  the  land  of  romance  and  fiction  as  well  as  of  serious  fact. 
Every  family  had  its  peculiar  traits  and  individualities  worthy  of  record 
and  many  the  old-time  happenings  and  habits  have  foimd  a  patient  recorder 
in  a  McSparran,  a  Hazard,  an  Ufxlike  or  a  Potter.  The  most  sympathetic 
and  prolific  collector  of  Narragansett  life  and  manner  was  Thomas  Haz- 
ard, son  of  Robert,  known  as  "College  Tom,"  and  Thomas  Robinson 
Hazard,  grandson  of  "College  Tom,"  known  as  "Shepherd  Tom" — a  shef)- 
herd  of  men  and  of  sheep,  whose  immortality  rests  on  the  inimitable 
"Johnny  Cake  Papers."  To  their  delightful  mental  rambles  over  the 
south  county,  a  later  generation  of  Haz-ards — Miss  Caroline  and  Row- 
land Gibson — have  added  valuable  extensions  and  editorial  illustrations. 
Love,  courtship  and  marriage  are  topics  in  which  a  limited  immortality 
inhere,  and  the  Narragansett  county,  with  its  landed  aristocracy,  its  fine 
blood,  its  social  dignity  and  colonial  voluptuousness,  furnished  noteworthy 
examples  of  the  varied  experiences  of  courtship  and  connubial  joys  and 
sorrows.  In  fact,  "Shepherd  Tom,"  in  his  "Recollections  of  Olden 
Times,"  opens  his  first  chapter  with  the  social  tragedy,  associated  with  the 
Rowland  Robinson  house,  at  the  South  Ferry,  in  which  are  the  "Unfor- 
tunate Hannah's  Qiamber,"  and  "The  Lafayette  Chamber"  of  a  later 
entry.  The  story  of  the  beautiful  but  "Unfortunate  Hannah"  has  been 
told  in  graphic  style  by  Hon.  Wilkins  Updike,  in  the  "History  of  the  Nar- 
ragansett Church,"  and  its  details  will  be  transmitted  through  youth  and 


494 


HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 


maid,  as  a  lover's  warning,  until  Point  Judith  shall  have  been  swallowed 
in  the  Atlantic.  It  is  not  our  purpose  to  extend  this  chapter  to  its  story- 
telling length,  as  it  would  require  a  volume  to  do  the  subject  justice.  The 
reader  is  referred  to  the  several  publications  named  to  get  fascinating 
glimpses  of  the  Golden  Age  of  Narragansett. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 


SLAVERY  IN  RHODE  ISLAND 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 
SLAVERY  IN  RHODE  ISLAND. 

Slavery,  or  involuntary  servitude,  is  one  of  the  oldest  practises  and 
institutions  of  the  human  race.  It  probably  arose  out  of  the  accident  of 
capture  in  war.  Savages,  instead  of  slaying  their  captives  found  it  more 
profitable  to  keep  them  in  servitude.  All  the  ancient  oriental  nations  of 
whom  we  have  any  records,  including  the  Jews,  held  slaves.  Greece  held 
slaves  and  .Aristotle,  the  wise,  defended  slavery  on  the  ground  that  in- 
ferior races  must  be  subject  to  the  superior.  Rome  held  slaves,  and  while 
all  men  were  considered  by  Roman  jurists  to  be  free  by  natural  la7v,  the 
laws  of  nations  decreed  that  all  captives  were  treated  better  in  slavery 
than  by  death.  Christianity  did  not  abolish  slavery.  It  only  ameliorated 
the  condition  of  the  slave.  The  word  itself  is  from  Slavonia,  the  slave 
being  the  captives  brought  to  Rome  from  the  Slavonians,  the  barbarian 
captives.  In  the  ijrocesses  of  western  civilization,  slavery  moved  with 
the  advancing  column  and  England  as  well  as  all  other  nations  of  western 
Europe  became  active  participants  in  the  traffic  in  human  flesh,  not  merely 
as  captives  of  war,  but  as  tools  for  labor  or  instruments  in  war,  in  the 
hands  of  the  more  powerful  races. 

The  discovery  of  America  opened  up  rich  mines  of  silver  and  gold 
and  as  the  native  races  were  not  strong  enough  for  the  lalx)r  required, 
the  Portuguese,  who  possessed  a  large  part  of  the  African  coast,  began 
the  importation  of  African  negroes  as  a  stronger  race  than  the  Indian. 
Sir  John  Hawkins  was  the  first  Englishman  who  engaged  in  the  slave 
traffic  in  which  his  countrymen  soon  legally  participated.  England  ex- 
ported from  Africa  no  less  than  3CX>,ooo  slaves  between  the  years  1680 
and  1700.  These  were  consigned  to  the  home  market  or  shipped  to 
North  and  .South  America.  Jamaica,  cartlniuake  shaken,  received  a  pop- 
ulation of  610.000  .\frican  negroes  between  1700  and  1786,  all  to  enrich 
the  coffers  of  English  slave  traders. 

Servantage,  or  contract  service  to  families  for  a  fixed  price  and 
stated  periods  as  determined  by  legal  papers  called  indentures  was  trans- 
mitted from  England  to  America  through  our  English  ancestry.  All  the 
well-to-do  families  brought  with  them  men  and  women  servants,  whose 
services  had  been  contracted  for  by  the  families  in  which  they  were  to 
live. 

John  Can-cr,  first  Governor  of  Plymouth  Colony,  brought  two  white 
men-servants,  John  Hozvland  and  Roger  Mintcr.  and  a  maid-servant  and 
a  child  that  was  put  to  him,  called  Jasper  More. 

RI-32 


498  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

« 

Mr.  Edward  Winslow,  afterwards  Governor,  had  two  men-servants 
and  a  little  girl,  Ellen  More.  Isaac  Allerton  had  a  servant  boy,  John 
Hooke.  Samuel  Fuller  had  a  servant  boy,  Wm.  Butten.  William  White 
had  two  servants.  Stephen  Hopkins  had  two  servants.  William  Brew- 
ster had  one  servant,  Richard  More. 

I.  Servants  could  not  have  their  freedom  or  keep  house  until  they 
had  served  out  their  time. 

II.  Might  buy  out  their  time. 

III.  Not  allowed  to  keep  house  until  provided  with  arms  and  ammu- 
nition as  provided  by  the  Colony. 

IV.  Servants  not  allowed  to  be  entertained  to  drink  or  spend  their 
time  at  victualling  hours. 

V.  Servants  allowed  to  have  only  five  acres  at  first  and  that  if  they 
were  found  fit  to  occupy  it  for  themselves  in  some  convenient  place. 

VI.  Servants  were  not  allowed  to  be  housekeepers  or  build  any 
cottages  or  dwelling  houses  until  permission  had  been  given  by  the  Gov- 
ernor or  some  one  of  the  Council  or  an  Assistant. 

VII.  Servants  lands  were  to  come  out  of  the  proprietors  own  lands, 
in  whose  service  such  servant  had  been. 

Fifty  acres  of  land  allotted  to  the  master  for  each  servant  transported 
to  America,  to  be  used  at  the  master's  discretion. 

No  servant  was  allowed  to  give,  sell,  or  truck  any  commodity,  with- 
out license  from  the  master. 

No  person  shall  hire  a  servant  for  less  than  a  year. 

Any  boy  (whipped  for  running  from  his  master)  found  in  another 
;)lantation,  not  having  a  note  from  his  master,  shall  be  whipped  by  the 
(iOnstable  and  sent  home. 

No  servant  to  have  land  till  his  master  has  approved  his  faithfulness. 

Runaway  servants  may  be  pursued  by  men,  boats,  pinnaces,  at  pub- 
lic expense,  and  brought  back  by  force  of  arms. 

Servants  must  serve  out  time  covenanted  for  on  penalty  of  fine  by 
court. 

Instructions  from  England  to  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony : 

As  we  intend  not  to  be  wanting  on  our  parts  to  provyde  all  things 
needful  for  the  maintenance  and  sustenance  of  our  servants,  soe  may  wee 
justly,  by  the  laws  of  God  &  man,  require  obedience  and  honest  cervicys 
from  them,  with  fitting  labour  in  their  several  employments,  wherein  if 
they  shall  be  wanting  and  much  more,  if  refractory,  care  must  be  taken 
to  punish  the  obstinate  and  disobedient,  being  as  necessary  as  food  and 
raiment. 

William  Androws,  having  made  assault  on  his  master,  Henry  Coggan, 
struck  him  diverse  blows  &  wickedly  conspired  against  the  life  of  his  said 
master,  &  not  only  so,  but  did  conspire  against  the  peace  &  welfare  of 


SLAVERY  IN  RHODE  ISLAND  499 

this  whole  Commonwealth,  was  censured  to  be  severely  whipped,  &  de- 
livered up  as  a  slave  to  whom  the  Court  shall  appoynt. 

John  Hasehvood,  for  theft  and  breaking  into  houses  was  sentenced 
as  above,  as  was  also  Gyles  Flayer  (as  J.  IL). 

Bond  service  of  white  children  and  adults  existed  in  all  the  American 
colonies.  It  was  usually  a  contract  servantage,  the  various  and  singular 
terms  and  conditions  being  set  forth  in  a  sealed  writing,  called  an  inden- 
ture, signed  by  both  parties.  The  usual  period  of  service  extended  to  the 
age  of  majority  in  the  case  of  young  persons  and  for  seven  years  in  the 
case  of  adults,  or  the  period  of  full  apprenticeship  in  case  of  trade-serv- 
ice. Food,  clothing,  housing  and  a  small  money  consideration  were  the 
usual  factors  expressed  in  the  contract.  The  history  of  this  class  of 
servants  is  an  honorable  one  and  witnesses  to  the  honesty,  faithfulness 
and  honor  of  both  the  master  and  servant  classes  in  New  England  and 
especially  in  Rhode  Island  Colony.  A  singular  instance  of  household 
servantage  occurred  in  the  family  of  the  writer.  A  young  man  named 
John  Kitchin  came  to  Massachusetts  in  1635,  as  a  servant  in  the  family 
of  Zachary  Bicknell.  At  the  end  of  the  period  of  indenture,  young 
Kitchin  settled  at  Salem,  Massachusetts,  married,  became  wealthy  for  his 
time  and  sent  a  son  to  Harvard  College.  Tlie  Kitchin  family  migrated 
to  the  South  and  two  of  the  family  are  now  in  the  United  States  Congress 
from  North  Carolina,  one  being  the  floor  leader  of  the  Democrats  in  the 
House  of  Representatives,  and  one  has  been  the  Governor  of  North 
Carolina.  Such  men  are  descendants  of  the  servant  class  of  early  New 
England.  John  Howland,  another  servant  of  a  "Mayflower"  family,  was 
the  founder  of  the  Howland  family  of  Plymouth,  Newport  and  Provi- 
dence, and  the  latest  grammar  school  building  in  Providence  was  dedi- 
cated as  the  John  Howland  Schoolhouse. 

Negro  slavery  was  introduced  into  the  Colony  of  Virginia  in  1619. 
A  Dutch  man-of-war  brought  to  Jamestown  twenty  negroes,  who  were 
sold  as  slaves  for  life.  This  was  the  first  life  tenure  ownership  of  men  and 
women  adopted  in  any  American  Colony,  and  the  beginning  of  American 
slavery.  The  spread  of  negro  slavery  to  all  the  other  colonies  was  due  to 
two  very  practical,  if  not  economic  or  honorable  reasons.  One  was  the 
ease  of  securing  by  purchase  or  stealing  negroes  from  Africa  and  selling 
them  at  a  large  price  to  white  planters.  The  other  was  the  fancied  but 
fallacious  idea  that  slave  labor  was  more  valuable  to  the  planter  than  free 
white  labor.  Tlie  moral  question  of  the  right  of  a  man  to  own  his  fellow 
of  any  color  was  not  raised,  or  if  raised,  was  answered  thus:  It  is  better 
for  a  savage  to  be  the  slave  of  a  civilized  man  than  to  live  in  a  barbarous 
state,  and  the  world  has  not  outgrown  the  doctrine  altogether,  yet. 

American  Slavery  was  thus,  in  part,  an  ancestral  inheritance,  and  in 


Soo  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

part  a  native  growth,  springing  from  the  social  and  industrial  conditions 
and  demands  of  the  first  settlers  and  in  the  central  and  southern  colonies, 
of  their  descendants,  until  it  was  extinguished  by  the  Civil  War,  1 86 1-5. 
Slavery,  as  relating  to  the  absolute  ownership  of  the  person  and  his  de- 
scendant was  acknowledged  at  one  time  or  another  as  a  legal  institution 
in  all  of  the  original  Thirteen  Colonies.  This  slavery  applied  to  black 
persons  or  negroes  from  the  black  belt  of  the  torrid  zone.  Another  and 
a  limited  form  of  slavery  was  for  debt  or  for  crime  and  was  both  white 
and  black  in  its  personnel. 

Massachusetts  Bay  Colony  has  the  honor  of  the  first  legislation 
against  slavery  and  the  slave  trade  in  America.  This  act  passed  by  the 
General  Court,  November  4,  1646,  ranks  with  the  Free  School  Act  of 
1647  by  the  same  colony  and  the  founding  of  Harvard  College  in  1636. 
All  meant  freedom  of  Body,  Mind  and  SOUL.    The  act  reads  as  follows : 

The  Genrall  Corte  conceiving  themselves  bound  by  ye  first  oportunity 
to  bear  witness  against  ye  haynos  &  crying  sinn  of  man  stealing,  as  also 
to  proscribe  such  timely  redresse  for  what  is  past,  &  such  a  law  for  ye 
future  as  may  sufficiently  deterr  all  othrs  belonging  to  us  where  to  do 
in  such  vile  &  most  odious  courses,  Justly  abhored  of  all  good  &  iust  men, 
do  order  yt  ye  negro  interpreter,  wth  othrs  unlawfully  taken,  be,  by  ye 
first  oportunity,  (at  ye  charge  of  ye  country  for  prsent,)  sent  to  his  native 
country  of  Ginny,  &  a  letter  wth  him  of  ye  indignation  of  ye  Corte  there- 
abouts, &  iustice  hereof,  desiring  or  honored  Govrnr  would  please  to  put 
this  order  in  execution. 

Legislation  as  to  slavery  in  Rhode  Island  followed  quickly  in  the  law 
of  May,  1652.  It  is  of  interest  to  remember  that  John  Smith  of  War- 
wick, was  president,  Thomas  Olney  of  Providence,  and  Samuel  Gorton, 
assistants,  John  Greene,  Jr.,  recorder,  Randall  Holden,  treasurer,  and 
Hugh  Bewitt,  sergeant. 

At  this  session  of  the  General  Assembly,  the  famous  law  against 
slavery  was  passed,  believed  to  be,  with  one  exception,  the  first  legisla- 
tive enactment  in  the  history  of  this  continent,  if  not  of  the  world,  for  the 
suppression  of  involuntary  servitude.  This  law  was  designed  to  prevent 
botli  white  and  negro  slavery,  both  of  which  existed  in  Rhode  Island  at 
that  time.  By  it  no  man  could  be  held  to  service  more  than  ten  years 
from  the  time  of  his  coming  into  the  Colony,  at  the  end  of  which  time 
he  was  to  be  set  free.  Whoever  refused  to  let  him  go  free,  or  sold  him 
elsewhere  for  a  longer  period  of  slavery,  was  subject  to  a  penalty  of 
forty  pounds. 

Whereas,  There  is  a  common  course  practised  amongst  English 
men  to  buy  negers  (negroes)  to  that  they  may  have  them  for  service  or 
slaves  forever ;  for  the  preventinge  of  such  practises  among  us,  let  it  be 
ordered  that  no  blacke  mankind  or  white-being  forced  by  covenant  bond, 
or  otherwise,  to  serve  any  man  or  his  assighnes  longer  than  ten  yeares, 
or  untill  they  become  to  bee  twentie  four  yeares  of  age,  if  they  be  taken 


SLAVERY  I\  RHODE  ISLAND  501 

in  under  fourteen,  from  the  time  of  their  cominge  within  tlTe  lil)erties  of 
this  Collonie.  And  at  the  end  or  term  of  ten  yeares  to  sett  them  free,  as 
the  manner  is  with  the  English  servants,  and  that  man  that  will  not  let 
them  goe  free,  or  shall  sell  them  away  elsewhere,  to  that  end  that  they 
may  bee  enslaved  to  others  for  a  long  term,  hee  or  they  shall  forfeit  to 
the  Collonie  forty  pounds. 

In  the  "Plymouth  Memories  of  an  Octogenerian,"  by  W.  T.  Davis, 
1907,  we  find  a  statement  that  may  with  equal  truth  be  applied  to  most  of 
our  New  England  towns  of  that  day  of  slaves  and  slavery  in  Plymouth. 
He  writes : 

There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  the  institution  of  slavery  was  recog- 
nized, and  as  firmly  upheld  in  Plymouth  as  in  other  considerable  towns  in 
the  Northern  States.  So  far  as  the  slave  trade  was  concerned,  though  it 
was  abolished  by  an  act  of  Congress  in  1808,  there  is  reason  to  believe  that 
in  the  town  of  Bristol,  Rhode  Island,  within  the  limits  of  the  original 
Plymouth  County,  until  by  a  Royal  Commission  in  175 1,  that  town  was 
taken  from  Massachusetts  and  added  to  Rhode  Island,  it  was  pursued, 
until  1820.  In  that  year  Congress  declared  the  slave  trade  to  be  piracy, 
and  Captain  Nathaniel  Gordon,  engaged  in  the  trade,  was  in  November, 
1821,  convicted  and  executed  in  New  York. 

March  13,  1676. — An  order  was  made  by  the  General  Assembly,  in 
session  at  Newport,  that  every  lindian  servant  in  the  Colony,  "from 
twelve  years  old  and  upward,"  should  be  provided  with  an  attendant  in 
the  daytime  and  be  locked  up  at  night ;  but  that  "noe  Indian  in  this  Collony 
shall  be  a  slave"  save  only  for  debts,  covenant,  etc.,  "as  if  they  had  been 
countrymen  not  in  Warr." 

A  bill  was  also  passed  on  August  14,  of  the  same  year,  that  all  Indian 
captives  under  five  years  should  be  simple  bond-servants  till  thirty  years 
of  age;  all  above  five  and  under  ten,  till  twenty-eight;  above  ten  and 
under  fifteen,  till  twenty-seven;  above  fifteen  and  under  twenty,  till 
twenty-six;  while  such  as  were  above  twenty  and  under  thirty  were  to 
serve  eight  years,  and  such  as  were  above  thirty,  seven  years.  The  aver- 
age price  of  an  Indian  bond-servant  was  about  thirty-two  shillings.  Some 
sold  for  twelve  bushels  of  Indian  corn,  some  for  two  pounds  ten  shillings 
in  silver  and  some  for  one  hundred  pounds  of  wool.  Anthony  Low  bought 
five  for  £8.  J.  Rogers  bought  two  for  twenty-two  bushels  of  corn,  and 
Elisha  Smith  bought  one  for  three  fat  sheep.  A  public  auction  of  Indian 
bond-servants  was  held  on  the  Town  Street  in  Providence  at  the  head 
of  Crawford  street,  at  the  close  of  Philip's  War,  in  which  Mr.  Williams 
figured  as  an  interested  party,  in  receiving  a  portion  of  the  proceeds  of  the 
sale. 

On  August  14,  1676,  two  days  after  the  death  of  King  Philip  in  the 
swamp  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Hope,  a  town  meeting  was  held  "before 


502  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

Thomas  Field's  house  under  a  tree  by  the  water  side,"  in  Providence,  to 
take  action  as  to  Indian  prisoners,  the  town  being  full  of  them.  The  place 
of  the  Field  House  is  now  occupied  by  the  Providence  Institution  for 
Savings.  In  other  colonies  Indian  prisoners  were  either  put  to  death, 
made  slaves  for  life  or  sold  as  slaves  in  the  West  Indies.  Rhode  Island 
had  just  passed,  "that  noe  Indian  in  this  Collony  be  a  slave"  for  life.  A 
committee  was  chosen  of  which  Mr.  Williams  was  first  named  to  "set  the 
disposal  of  the  Indians  now  in  town."  It  was  agreed  that  the  Indians 
should  be  sold  to  service  from  seven  to  twenty-five  years,  the  proceeds 
of  the  sale  to  be  divided  among  thirty  men,  in  shares  and  half  shares,  Mr. 
Williams'  name  being  first  on  the  list  for  a  whole  share.  The  average 
price  for  which  Indians,  great  and  small,  were  sold  at  the  auction  that 
followed  was  thirty-two  shillings.  Arthur  Fenner,  William  Hopkins  and 
John  Whipple,  Jr.,  had  charge  of  the  sale.  The  return  of  the  sale  gave  to 
each  full  share  sixteen  shillings  four  pence  half  penny.  This  transaction 
illustrates  the  principle  that  the  colonists  were  merciful  to  their  captives, 
and  that  a  limited  term  of  labor  was  the  most  satisfactory  treatment  of 
this  class  of  offenders. 

The  first  census  of  the  colony  of  Rhode  Island  was  taken  in  the  year 
1708.     It  was  simply  a  general  and  unclassified  count  of  all  the  people. 

Whites  Negroes* 

Newport   2,203 

Portsmouth   628 

Jamestown     206 

New  Shoreham   208 

Providence  1,446 

Warwick    480 

East  Greenwich   240 

North  Kingstown   1,200 

Westerly  570 

570  *425 


Total— 7,606.  7,181  *425 

The  next  census  divided  the  people  into  whites,  negroes  and  Indians. 
In  the  year  1730,  by  order  of  the  King,  an  exact  census  of  the  Colony 
was  made  with  the  following  result: 

Whites         Negroes       Indians 

Newport   3,843 

Portsmouth    643 

Providence  3,707 

Warwick    1,028 

Westerly  1 ,620 

North  Kingstown   1,875 

South   Kingstown   965 

East  Greenwich  I,I49 

Jamestown  222 

New  Shoreham   250 

Total— 17,935-  15,302  1,648  985 


slave  and  free 

649 

148 

100 

70 

128 

81 

77 

73 

S6 

2S0 

I6S 

65 

333 

22s 

40 

34 

80 

19 

20 

20 

*  Slave  and  free  in  the  whole  Colony. 


SLAVERY  IN  RHODE  ISLAND  503 

The  enumeration  of  the  Colony  at  five  periods  prior  to  independence 
shows  the  relative  white  and  black  population,  excluding  Indians.  The 
following  table  is  a  summary : 

Whites  Negroes 

1708 7,181  425 

1-30 17,935  1.648 

1749 32,773  3-097 

1756 35.939  4,697 

1774 59.707  3,668 

The  towns  of  Barrington,  Warren,  Bristol,  Tiverton  and  Little  Comp- 
ton  appear  for  the  first  time  in  the  census  of  1749,  annexation  to  Rhode 
Island  Colony  from  Massachusetts  taking  place  in  1747.  These  towns 
helped  to  swell  the  negro  population,  which  was  almost  wholly  slave  at 
that  time.  The  increase  of  blacks  of  3,049  between  1730  and  1756  was 
due  also  to  these  other  causes, —  the  removal  of  the  impost  tax  of  1711, 
slave  imports  from  the  West  Indies  by  our  colonial  merchants  and  a  direct 
importation  from  Africa  by  slave  trade  shipments  to  Newport,  Bristol, 
South  Kingstown.  Owing  to  the  excess  of  wealth  in  the  southern  sec- 
tion of  the  Colony,  slavery  and  the  trade  in  slaves  was  most  vigorously 
carried  on.  "Of  the  negroes  and  slaves  in  Rhode  Island,"  says  Judge 
Potter,  "the  greater  part  were  in  a  very  few  towns, — Newport,  North  and 
South  Kingstown,  Warwick,  Bristol,  Portsmouth  and  Jamestown.  By 
the  census  of  1749,  the  town  of  South  Kingstown  had  more  negroes  in 
it  than  any  other  except  Newport.  This  was  also  the  case  by  the  census 
of  1774  and  1783."  In  1774,  Newport  had  1,246,  South  Kingstown  440, 
Providence  303,  North  Kingstown  21  r,  Jamestown  131,  Portsmouth  122, 
Bristol  140,  Barrington  41.  At  an  earlier  period.  Kings  county,  now 
Washington,  which  had  a  third  of  the  population  of  the  Colony,  had  more 
than  a  thousand  slaves.  The  census  returns  are  not  reliable,  as  it  was 
considered  honest  at  home  to  conceal  property  holdings  from  the  home 
government  in  England.  As  a  rule  slaves  and  horses  were  about  equal 
in  number  in  any  given  family.  Each  family  in  Kings  county  had  from 
five  to  forty  slaves.  The  horses  were  raised  for  export,  slaves  for  home 
consumption.    Newport  was  the  slave  market  of  New  England. 

The  first  cargo  of  negroes  imported  from  Africa  to  be  sold  into  slav- 
ery in  this  Colony,  was  entered  at  Newport  in  1696.  The  negroes  were 
sold  at  between  £30  and  £35  per  head.  Between  1698  and  1707,  negroes 
to  the  number  of  twenty  or  thirty  a  year  were  imported  from  Barbados 
and  were  sold  at  from  £30  to  £40  a  head,  but  there  was  no  great  de- 
mand, as  only  the  wealthy  merchants  and  well-to-do  farmers  could  afford 
slave  property  and  the  north  end  of  the  Colony  about  Warwick  and 
Providence  was  poor. 

With  the  opening  year  of  the  eighteenth  century  came  the  great  oppor- 


504  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

tunity  for  wealth,  which  the  merchants  and  mariners  of  Newport  gladly 
ivelcomed  and  promptly  used.  Africa  produced  negroes  in  abundance 
imd  slavery  was  considered  a  missionary  scheme  to  convert  barbarians  into 
producers  among  civilized  peoples.  The  West  Indies  raised  sugar  cane 
by  slave  labor  and  the  cane  was  the  source  of  molasses  and  sugar.  The 
sugar  and  molasses  could  be  converted  into  rum,  and  rum  had  a  brisk 
home  market  as  well  as  a  large  demand  from  the  Guinea  Coast.  The 
Colonial  conscience  that  halted  at  the  door  of  soul  liberty,  was  easy  in 
self-content  in  converting  molasses  into  rum,  in  transporting  the  rum  to 
Africa  to  make  an  exchange  of  rum  for  negroes,  who  were  carried  to  the 
West  Indies  and  sold  to  sugar  planters  as  slaves.  The  money  received 
for  slaves  was  used  in  part  to  buy  a  shipload  of  sugar  and  molasses  for 
the  merchant's  distillery  at  Newport.  A  single  voyage  had  three  ventures. 
Rum  purchased  the  negroes.  The  negroes  were  sold  for  gold.  The  gold 
bought  the  sugar.  The  distillery  converted  it  into  another  cargo  of  rum. 
This  endless  chain  of  rum,  negroes,  sugar,  with  its  endless  return  of  gold 
to  Newport,  made  our  Colonial  seaport  one  of  the  wealthiest  and  busiest 
on  the  American  Coast.  This  wealth  distributed  in  various  ways  gave 
independence  and  culture  to  Newport  society  and  a  community  spirit  to 
the  people  of  the  growing  town.  Bristol  and  Wickford  and  the  Narra- 
gansett  Plantations  also  engaged  in  the  lucrative  slave  trade  in  its  tri- 
angular course.  Colonel  Thomas  Hazard  and  Rowland  Robinson  were 
among  the  slave  traders  of  Narragansett.  At  Bristol  the  Dimans  and  De- 
Wolfs  were  engaged  in  the  trade,  while  at  Newport  nearly  all  the  mer- 
chants shared  in  its  perils  and  its  profits.  Providence  was  then  within 
the  control  of  the  agricultural  class  and  had  not  yet  entered  on  the  com- 
mercial or  manufacturing  enterprises  which  in  the  latter  half  of  the  cen- 
tury, brought  fame  and  fortune  to  the  people  of  the  Upper  Narragansett. 
According  to  Governor  Richard  Ward,  the  Colony  of  Rhode  Island 
had  a  merchant  marine  of  120  sail,  "some  on  the  Coast  of  Africa."  It  is 
estimated  that  at  least  one-half  of  the  tonnage  of  Colonial  vessels  was 
engaged  in  the  rum-slave  business.  Newport  had  between  twenty  and 
thirty  distilleries.  Bristol  had  several.  The  African  trade  called  for 
1800  hogsheads  of  rum  annually,  which  was  exchanged  for  negroes,  gold 
dust  and  ivory.  So  great  was  the  demand  for  rum  for  purchasing  negroes 
that  it  was  impossible  to  buy  a  hogshead  of  liquor  for  home  use.  So  pros- 
perous was  our  sea  trade  that  in  1763,  the  Colony  had  increased  in  vessels 
to  184,  not  counting  342  small  coasters.  The  work  of  ship  building  was 
carried  on  at  Newport,  Bristol,  Warren,  Barrington  and  Providence.  The 
vessels  adapted  for  ocean  voyages,  registered  about  fifty  tons,  rigged  as 
sloop  or  brig,  and  cost  about  $7,500  apiece.  Each  vessel  could  carry  a 
cargo  of  rum  to  the  amount  of  125  to  150  hogsheads,  besides  provisions. 


SLAVERY  IN  RHODE  ISLAND  505 

for  the  round  trip,  arms,  ammunition  and  slave  shackles.  The  hazards 
of  the  voyage  were  many,  including  "men-of-war,  enemies,  pyrates, 
rovers,  thieves,  jettisons,  letters  of  mark  and  counter-mark,  sorprizals, 
taking  at  sea.  barratry  of  the  master  and  marines,"  to  say  nothing  of  the 
usual  dangers  of  the  sea!  After  a  sailing  voyage  of  from  six  to  ten 
weeks,  the  single  or  small  fleet  of  rum-laden  vessels  would  be  welcomed 
to  some  slave-trading  port  on  the  Guinea  Coast  by  the  headmen  or  chiefs 
of  victorious  tribes.  A  bancjuet  or  collation  would  be  provided  for  the 
native  slave  merchants,  at  which  rum  and  other  liquors  flowed  freely  and 
gifts  of  trinkets  showered  upon  the  tribesmen.  Following  this  revel,  the 
exchange  of  rum  for  negroes  began,  at  the  valuation  of  a  hundred  gallons 
of  rum  for  an  average  slave.  A  brisk  market  would  furnish  a  shipload 
of  one  hundred  or  more  men  and  women  in  a  few  days,  and,  shackled  and 
ironed  between  decks, — a  space  three  feet  and  ten  inches  high, — the  men 
stretched  on  their  backs,  feet  out  board,  the  voyage  to  the  West  Indies 
would  begin. 

A  letter  from  Jeremiah  Diman,  captain  of  a  Bristol  slave  trader,  to 
Captain  James  De  Wolf  of  that  town,  throws  light  on  a  dark  picture: 

St.  Thomas,  April  i,  1796. 
This  will  inform  you  of  my  arrival  in  this  port  safe,  with  seventy- 
eight  well  slaves.  I  lost  two  on  the  passage.  I  had  sixty-two  days  pas- 
sage. I  received  your  letter  and  orders  to  draw  bills  on  thirty  days  sight, 
but  I  have  agreed  to  pay  in  slaves, — two  men  slaves  at  twenty-eight  Joes 
(a  Joe  was  a  gold  coin  of  Portugal,  $8  in  value),  and  one  boy  at  twenty- 
five  Joes,  and  another  at  twenty  Joes.  I  found  times  very  bad  on  the 
Coast.  Prime  slaves  are  one  hogshead  and  thirty  gallons  of  rum  or  seven 
Joes  gold,  and  boys  one  hogshead  of  rum.  I  left  Captain  Isaac  Man- 
chester at  Anemcbue  with  ninety  slaves  on  board,  all  well.  To-morrow 
I  shall  sail  for  Havana,  agreeable  to  your  orders.  I  shall  do  the  best  I 
can,  and  without  other  orders  load  with  molasses  and  return  to  Bristol. 

Captain  James  DeWolf  amassed  a  large  fortune  in  the  trade  and  was 
elected  to  the  United  States  Senate,  holding  the  position  from  March, 
182 1,  to  October  31,  1825,  when  he  resigned.  Among  those  who  helped 
to  make  Bristol  a  noted  slave  port,  was  Captain  Simeon  Potter,  a  famous 
slave  trader  who  flourished  about  1764.  Captain  Potter  represented  the 
town  in  the  General  .Assembly  many  years  and  held  the  rank  of  major- 
general  in  the  army,  during  the  .American  Revolution. 

Even  slave  traders  had  their  trials.  Stormy  voyages,  head  winds,  a 
dull  market,  no  African  wars,  no  captives,  slave  insurrections  on  ships, 
losses  by  death,  poor  crops  of  cane, — these  and  other  troubles  were  fre- 
quent visitors  of  these  triangular  voyages.  Captain  David  Lindsay,  in 
command  of  the  Newport  brigantine  Sanderson  in  1753,  in  th€  most 
lucrative  era  of  the  slave  trade,  wrote  a  distressing  letter  from  Anamabo: 


5o6  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

I  have  Gott  13  or  14  hhds  of  rum  yet  Left  aboard  and  God  noes  when 
I  shall  gett  clean  of  it.  *  *  *  Ye  traid  is  so  dull  it  is  actually  a  noof 
to  make  a  man  creasy  ♦  *  *  on  the  whole  I  never  had  so  much 
trouble  in  all  my  voiges. 

Writing  from  Barbadoes,  after  the  "middle  passage,"  he  says : 

My  slaves  is  not  landed  yet.  They  are  56  in  number  for  owners,  all 
in  helth  &  fatt.    I  lost  one  small  gall. 

An  account  of  the  expenses  and  net  profits  of  one  of  these  African 
ventures,  "on  the  proper  account  and  risque  of  Messrs.  William  Johnston 
and  Peter  Brown"  of  Newport,  shows  the  voyage  to  have  been  a  most 
profitable  one.  The  cargo  consisted  of  14  men,  9  women,  1 1  "men  boys," 
8  small  boys,  2  girls,  3  small  girls  and  a  quantity  of  lumber.  Twenty-five 
men,  women  and  "men  boys"  were  sold  at  £35  apiece.  The  small  boys 
sold  at  £29  apiece,  the  girls  sold  at  £25  each,  and  the  small  girls  at 
£22  each.  The  slave  cargo  of  47  persons  sold  for  £1432,  12s.,  6d.  The 
lumber  brought  £34.  The  whole  invoice  brought  a  total  of  £1466,  13s., 
6d.,  or  about  $7350. 

The  permit  to  land  slaves  cost  £o.5s.  Duty  on  47  slaves  at  5s.  each 
was  £11.  15s.  Paid  for  liquor  at  the  sales,  etc.,  £1,  19s.,  5d.  Captain's 
Coast  Commission  £55,  2s.,  2d.  Commissions  (wages)  on  sales,  £73, 
6s.,  8d.  The  total  expense  of  the  voyage  was  £142,  15s.,  3d.,  or  about 
$725.  Deducting  the  cost  of  the  voyage,  $725  from  the  total  receipts, 
$7350j  we  have  a  gross  profit  to  the  credit  of  the  Sanderson,  Barbados, 
July  ID,  1753,  of  more  than  $6500.  Such  details  show  clearly  why  the 
enterprising  merchants  of  southern  Rhode  Island  engaged  in  mercantile 
marine  adventures  that  had  a  three-fold  source  of  profits.  At  the  same 
time  it  is  not  so  clear  to  understand  how  the  honorable  merchants  of 
Newport  and  Bristol  and  Narragansett  could,  with  a  good  conscience, 
engage  so  vigorously,  even  religiously,  in  a  business,  each  item  of  which 
involved  principles,  hostile  to  economic  law,  social  order  and  Christian 
civilization.  The  conversion  of  molasses  into  rum  changed  a  useful  food 
into  a  body  and  soul  destroying  intoxicant,  but  no  church  and  no  religious 
teacher  attacked  the  distillery.  The  sending  of  rum  to  debauch  and 
brutalize  the  native  tribes  of  Africa  was  a  crime  not  then  written  in  the 
criminal  laws  of  any  state  or  of  England — the  mother  of  many  states. 
The  purchase  of  a  God-made  human  being  with  one  hundred  gallons  of 
rum  is,  in  our  day,  a  crime  against  humanity  and  civilization,  but  in  the 
eighteenth  century,  legislators  and  governors  looked  upon  the  bargain  as 
a  legitimate  one  and  the  transfer  of  a  black  man  and  woman  from  the 
jungle  of  the  dark  continent  to  the  tender  mercies  of  a  taskmaster  with 
his  lash,  on  a  plantation  of  our  Western  Island,  a  deed  of  philanthropy 


SLAVERY  IX  RHODE  ISLAND  507 

and  of  Christianity.  "Oh  cursed  love  of  gold!  What  will  it  not  force 
mortals  to  do!" 

The  prohibitory  slave  act  of  1652,  while  not  repealed,  had  passed 
into  absolute  neglect  and  forgetfulness,  when  England  began  to  unload 
slaves  upon  her  colonies  as  a  profitable  commerce  and  an  answer  to  our 
demand  for  laborers.  Rhode  Island  merchants  found  slave  dealing 
profitable  as  well  as  serviceable  to  the  people  and  after  1707  engaged  in 
the  importation  of  slave  labor.  In  1708,  the  colony  laid  an  impost  of  £3 
on  each  negro  imported,  a  portion  of  which  was  used  to  construct  and 
pave  Newport  streets  to  prevent  "ye  spoyling  and  damnifying  of  apparill." 
An  act  was  passed  against  entertaining  negro  slaves  or  Indian  servants 
with  liquor,  under  penalty  of  a  fine  and  a  public  whipping.  In  17 12,  an 
act  was  passed  requiring  masters  to  specify  the  number,  sex^  and  names 
of  the  slaves  on  their  cargoes,  tor  preventing  clandestine  importations 
and  exportations  of  slaves.  In  July,  171 5,  an  act  was  passed  forbidding 
the  import  of  Indian  slaves  on  account  of  "divers  conspiracies,  insurrec- 
tions, rapes,  thefts  and  other  execrable  crimes"  perpetrated  by  them. 
Another  slave  act  required  the  entrance  of  the  number,  names  and  sex 
in  the  naval  office  and  the  payment  of  the  tax  of  £3.  A  part  of  this  tax 
on  slave  imports  was  to  be  expended  for  repairing  and  paving  Newport 
streets.  In  1729,  it  was  ordered  that  half  the  import  tax  on  slaves  be 
devoted  to  street  construction  in  Newport  and  half  to  the  building  and 
repair  of  "great  bridges  on  the  main."  The  import  law  of  1712  was 
repealed  in  1732  by  order  of  the  king  for  the  reason  that  it  injured  the 
slave  trade.  By  an  act  of  1729,  any  person  freeing  a  slave  was  required 
to  give  security  of  not  less  than  £  100  that  such  person  should  not  become 
a  public  charge.  In  1751,  an  act  required  Indians,  mulatto  or  negro 
servant  or  slave  to  be  in  doors  with  the  family  at  nine  o'clock  at  night,  and 
forbade  traffic  w-ith  a  servant  or  slave. 

In  1764  Governor  Stephen  Hopkins  stated  to  the  British  Government 
that  for  thirty  years  this  colony  had  "annually  sent  about  eighteen  sail  of 
vessels  to  the  coast,  which  have  carried  about  eighteen  hundred  hogsheads 
of  rum,  together  with  a  small  quantity  of  provisions  and  other  articles, 
which  have  been  sold  for  slaves,  gold  dust,  elephants'  teeth  and  camwood." 
By  the  sale  of  slaves  and  other  articles,  the  colony  had  sent  to  England 
£40,000  annually,  and  the  rum,  carried  to  the  coast,  had,  in  many  cases, 
been  exchanged  for  English  drygoods  and  thus  benefited  the  English 
market. 

The  Governor  also  stated  there  were  "upwards  of  thirty  distil  houses, 
erected  at  a  vast  expense,  constantly  employed  in  making  mm  from 
molasses.  This  distillery  is  the  main  hinge  upon  which  the  trade  of  the 
colony  turns,  and  many  hundreds  of  persons  depend  immediately  upon 
it  for  a  subsistence." 


5o8  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

The  conscience  awakening  as  to  the  sin  of  slavery  first  appeared 
among  the  Quakers  of  Rhode  Island.  It  was  quite  fitting  that  the  first 
movement  in  reform  should  be  made  in  this  colony,  where  slavery  had 
most  flourished  in  New  England.  The  Quakers  were  from  the  first  con- 
sciously awake  to  the  fact  that  slaves  were  human  beings  and  deserved 
fair  treatment  as  such.  In  1717,  "a  weighty  concern"  was  on  the  yearly 
meeting  at  Newport  "concerning  the  importing  and  keeping  slaves."  It 
was  advised  on  "Friends  everywhere  to  waite  for  ye  wisdom  of  God  how 
to  discharge  themselves  in  that  weighty  affair,"  and  Newport  merchants 
were  advised  to  discourage  the  sending  of  slaves  to  be  sold  by  Friends 
here.  Ten  years  later  the  Meeting  declared  a  censure  on  the  importation 
of  slaves.  "College  Tom"  Hazard  of  South  Kingstown,  was  one  of  the 
first  Quakers  to  free  his  slaves  as  did  his  friend,  Jeremiah  Austin.  John 
Woolman,  a  saintly  Quaker  of  New  Jersey,  visited  Rhode  Island  in  1747 
and  again  in  1760,  advocating  with  great  spiritual  love  and  earnestness 
the  freeing  of  slaves.  The  Quaker  process  of  reform  was  slow  in  its 
working,  but  philosophical,  thorough  and  certain.  In  1773,  in  yearly 
Meeting,  the  plain  declaration  was  made  that  "all  in  a  state  of  infancy 
and  nonage  among  Friends  to  be  discharged  and  set  free  from  a  state  of 
slavery  that  we  do  no  more  claim  property  in  the  human  race  as  we  do  in 
the  brutes  that  perish."  The  truth  as  revealed  to  the  Quaker  mind  was 
now  a  declared  principle  of  the  whole  body  and  discipline  was  now  ap- 
plied to  the  membership,  irrespective  of  persons.  Governor  Hopkins  of 
Providence  being  one  of  the  first  to  be  put  from  under  their  care.  As  Ste- 
phen Hopkins  went  out  of  the  Quaker  Society,  his  friend  Moses  Brown 
came  in,  in  preparation  for  which  step  he  freed  all  his  slaves. 

In  1774,  a  committee  of  seven  was  chosen  at  the  Yearly  Meeting  at 
Newport  to  use  their  influence  with  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Colony 
to  make  such  laws  "as  will  tend  to  the  abolition  of  slavery  and  to  get 
such  laws  repealed  as  in  any  way  encourage  it." 

It  must  be  confessed  that  Rhode  Island  people  were  never  strongly 
wedded  to  slavery.  In  the  early  days,  twenty  or  thirty  was  the  annual 
supply  at  from  $150  to  $200  each,  and  these  were  only  owned  in  the 
south  part  of  the  State.  The  large  wealthy  planters,  the  only  ones  who 
bought  many  slaves,  did  not  like  them  "by  reason  of  their  turbulent  and 
unruly  tempers,"  and  the  general  preference  of  employing  white  labor- 
ers rather  than  black.  Slavery  was  never  an  economical  advantage  in 
Rhode  Island  or  the  other  New  England  Colonies.  It  was  encouraged  by 
the  merchant  class  as  a  source  of  wealth,  and  was  tolerated  by  the  agri- 
cultural class,  as  affording  household  service  or  performing  the  drudgery 
of  farm  labor.  England  also  encouraged  it  as  a  source  of  income  to  the 
Government,  inasmuch  as  a  contract  with  the  French  Guinea  Company 


SLAVERY  IN  RHODE  ISLAND  509 

gave  her  forty-eight  hundred  slaves  annually  for  thirty  years,  making  her 
the  slave  trader  of  Christendom  and  the  market  man  of  slaves  for  North 
and  South  America. 

In  1715,  several  women  of  Huguenot  origin,  fleeing  the  Yemassce 
War  in  South  Carolina,  brought  a  few  Indian  slaves  to  Rhode  Island, 
and  relief  from  the  import  duty  was  granted  them.  This  seems  to  be  the 
only  instance  of  life  tenure  of  Indian  slaves  in  Rhode  Island,  though 
that  and  all  other  slavery  had  been  declared  illegal. 

While  the  Quakers  were  debating  the  right  and  wrong  of  slavery, 
Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island  were  arriving  at  the  conclusion  that  the 
slave  trade  was  immoral  and  contrary  to  the  Colonial  interests.  In  1770, 
an  act  to  prohibit  further  importation  of  slaves  was  introduced  in  the 
Assembly  of  Rhode  Island.  The  decision  of  Lord  Mansfield  of  England, 
was  of  immense  value  in  determining  public  and  political  opinion  on  the 
subject  of  slavery.  The  opinion  was  given  in  the  famous  Somerset  case. 
This  slave  was  taken  from  the  Colony  of  \'irginia  to  England  by  his 
master.  Refusing  to  serve  in  England,  his  master  decided  to  send  him 
to  Jamaica  for  sale.  A  writ  of  habeas  corpus  brought  the  issue  of  slave 
and  master  before  the  Court  of  King's  Bench.  The  distinguished  jurist 
declared  that  slavery  could  only  e.xist  by  positive  law,  that  there  were  no 
English  laws  authorizing  slavery,  and  that  the  proposed  action  of  the 
Virginia  owner  was  directly  contrary  to  the  laws  of  England.  He  there- 
fore ordered  the  freedom  of  Somerset  and  proclaimed  the  new  and  un- 
expected judgment  that  slavery  could  not  legally  exist  on  English  soil. 
This  was  an  act  that  laid  the  axe  at  the  root  of  the  Upas  tree  of  slavery 
on  English  soil  the  world  around.  Its  efTect  was  to  stimulate  public 
opinion,  to  encourage  legislation  and  to  hasten  the  emancipation  of  slaves 
in  New  England. 

In  .April,  1774,  an  act  of  singular  historical  interest  occurred  at  Prov- 
idence. A  man  dying  intestate,  without  heirs,  his  property,  including  six 
slaves,  fell  to  the  town.  At  a  town  meeting,  the  voters  declared  that  "it 
is  unbecoming  the  character  of  freemen  to  enslave  the  said  negroes," 
gave  the  slaves  their  freedom  and  the  town's  protection.  They  also  re- 
solved, "as  personal  liberty  is  an  essential  part  of  the  natural  rights  of 
mankind,"  to  petition  the  Assembly  to  prohibit  the  further  importation  of 
slaves  and  to  declare  that  all  negroes  born  in  the  Colony  should  be  free 
after  a  certain  age. 

At  Newi)ort,  June,  1774,  Joseph  Wanton,  Governor,  the  General  .As- 
sembly passed  the  memorable  act  prohibiting  the  importation  of  slaves  into 
the  Colony.  The  preamble  declares  that  "those  who  are  desirous  of  enjoy- 
ing all  the  advantages  of  liberty  themselves,  should  be  willing  to  extend 
personal  liberty  to  others."     The  act  provided  that  any  negro  or  mulatto 


5IO  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

slave  brought  into  the  Colony  should  be  immediately  free,  "so  far  as 
respects  freedom  and  the  enjoyment  of  private  property,  the  same  as 
native  Indians."  The  act  allowed  passing  travellers  to  bring  and  carry 
slaves,  and  British  Colonists  who  had  a  temporary  residence.  Other 
sections  forbade  other  than  temporary  retention  of  slaves  brought  into 
the  Colony.  A  fine  was  prescribed  for  freeing  a  slave  to  become  a  public 
charge,  and  likewise  for  harboring  a  slave.  This  was  the  earliest  law 
passed  by  any  Colonial  legislature  and  reflects  the  sentiment  not  only  of 
the  Quakers  of  Rhode  Island  but  of  her  merchant  and  agricultural  classes. 
Stephen  Hopkins  led  the  Providence  delegation  and  was  probably  author 
of  the  act.  Among  the  leading  members  who  figured  in  the  struggle  for 
American  independence  were  Metcalf  Bowler,  Joshua  Babcock,  William 
Greene,  Carder  Hazard,  Israel  Wilkinson,  Rufus  Hopkins,  Chad  Browne, 
Robert  Stanton,  Thomas  Allin  and  William  Bradford. 

This  act  however,  like  tliat  of  1652,  was  of  little  value  except  as  a 
register  of  political  opinions  of  that  day.  A  prohibitory  law  does  not 
become  effectual  except  as  protected  by  a  penalty  commensurate  with  the 
criminality  of  the  offense  committed.  The  law  of  1774  had  a  moral  value 
but  no  executive  force.  Like  a  blank  cartridge,  it  made  a  noise  in  the 
explosion,  but  there  was  no  missile  enclosed  to  hit  the  mark.  Still  more, 
a  criminal  law  is  not  self-executing.  Officers  must  arrest  and  courts  must 
hear  and  decide  on  legal  offences.  Blind  officers  make  blind  laws,  and 
laws  without  penalties  against  their  infraction  invite  and  encourage  law 
breakers.  We  may  applaud  this  virtuous  law  against  the  importation  of 
slaves,  but  we  must  also  record  the  fact  that  it  did  not  prohibit  the  slave 
trade  in  Rhode  Island,  which  continued,  in  a  clandestine  way,  even  after 
the  Federal  law  of  1808.  In  an  oration  at  Plymouth,  Massachusetts,  in 
1820,  Daniel  Webster  said : 

The  African  slave  trade  is  a  pirate  and  a  felon  and,  in  the  sight  of 
Heaven,  an  offender  far  beyond  the  ordinary  depth  of  human  guilt. 
*  *  *  I  hear  the  sound  of  the  hammer,  I  see  the  smoke  of  the  fur- 
naces where  the  manacles  and  fetters  are  still  forged  for  human  limbs. 
I  see  the  visages  of  those  who  by  stealth  and  at  midnight  labor  in  this 
work  of  hell,  foul  and  dark  as  may  become  the  artificers  of  such  instru- 
ments of  misery  and  torture.  Let  that  spot  be  purified  or  let  it  be  set 
aside  from  the  Christian  world;  let  it  be  put  out  of  the  circle  of  human 
sympathies  and  human  regards  and  let  civilized  man  henceforth  have  no 
communication  with  it.  It  is  not  fit  the  land  of  the  Pilgrims  should  bear 
the  shame  longer. 

It  is  supposed  that  Mr.  Webster  referred  to  the  town  of  Bristol,  once 
a  part  of  Plymouth  Colony,  as  the  place  where  the  trade  in  slaves  was 
still  carried  on,  as  late  as  1820. 

In  1778,  the  Assembly  acting  upon  the  suggestion  of  General  Var- 


SLAVERY  IN  RHODE  ISLAND  511 

num.  approved  by  General  Washington,  resolved  to  raise  a  regiment  of 
slaves,  who  were  to  be  made  free  on  enlistment  in  the  army.  Tlie  owner 
of  a  slave,  so  enlisting,  was  to  be  paid  according  to  the  valuation  of  a 
committee.  Six  deputies  protested  on  the  grounds  that  there  were  not 
enough  able-bodied  men  slaves  to  make  a  regiment,  that  the  act  would 
be  disapproved  abroad  and  that  the  owners  would  not  be  satisfied  with 
the  indemnity. 

In  1779,  an  act  was  passed  prohibiting  the  sale  of  slaves  to  parties 
outside  the  state  against  the  will  of  the  slave,  imless  the  slave  was  a 
notoriously  bad  character. 

In  February,  1784,  on  a  petition  of  the  Quakers  and  as  a  resultant  of 
public  opinion  created  by  a  discussion  of  more  than  half  a  century,  an 
act  was  passed  for  the  gradual  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  State.  AH 
children  born  of  slave  mothers  after  March  i,  1784,  were  to  be  free,  their 
support  and  education  to  be  provided  for  by  the  towns  in  which  they 
were  born  The  next  year  the  expense  of  rearing  a  child  slave  born 
was  shifted  to  the  mother's  owner.  The  sale  or  importation  of  slaves 
from  Africa  or  the  West  Indies  was  also  declared  illegal  but  no  penalties 
were  attached  to  the  law.  In  1787.  acting  on  a  memorial  of  the  Quakers, 
an  act  was  passed  by  the  .Assembly  prohibiting  the  African  slave  trade, 
fixing  a  penalty  of  one  hundred  pounds  for  each  person  imported  and 
one  thousand  pounds  for  the  vessel  engaged  in  the  trade.  This  was  the 
first  slave  trade  law  that  had  teeth.  Although  the  Quakers  were  the 
leaders  in  the  anti-slavery  cause,  they  were  not  the  only  opponents  of 
slavery  in  Rhode  Island.  The  Episcopal  Church  took  an  active  part  in 
the  cause  of  evangelization  and  emancipation.  Rev.  Dr.  Ezra  Stiles, 
minister  of  the  Congregational  Church,  at  Newport,  and  later  president 
of  Yale  College,  and  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Hopkins  of  Newport,  founder  of 
the  Hopkinsian  Sect,  although  their  churches  and  attendants  were  made 
up  of  slave  owners  and  traders,  took  a  deep  interest  in  improving  the 
mental  and  moral  condition  of  Newport  slaves,  while  Dr.  Hopkins  formu- 
lated plans  to  return  slaves,  when  civilized  and  Christianized,  to  colonize 
Africa.  It  must  be  admitted  however  that  the  great  majority  of  church 
members  looked  at  slavery  and  the  slave  trade  from  the  commercial 
standpoint  and  were  slow  to  act  on  high  moral  grounds  in  favor  of 
emancipation,  as  did  the  Quakers. 

Bishop  Berkeley,  writing  in  1731,  gives  an  inner  view  of  the  slave 
life  in  the  colony: 

The  negroes  in  the  government  of  Rhode  Island  are  about  half  as 
many  more  than  the  Indians,  and  both  together  scarce  amount  to  a 
seventh  part  of  the  whole  Colony.  The  religion  of  these  people,  as  is 
natural  to  suppose,  takes  after  their  masters.  Some  few  arc  baptized  ; 
several  frequent  the  different  assemblies  and  for  the  greater  part  none 


512  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

at  all.  An  ancient  antipathy  to  the  Indians,  whom  it  seems,  our  first 
planters  imagined  they  had  a  right  to  tread  on  the  foot  of  Canaanites  or 
Amalekites,  together  with  an  irrational  contempt  of  the  blacks,  as  crea- 
tures of  another  species,  who  had  no  right  to  be  instructed  or  admitted 
to  the  sacraments  have  proved  a  main  obstacle  to  the  conversion  of  these 
poor  people.  To  this  may  be  added  an  erroneous  notion  that  baptism 
is  inconsistent  with  a  state  of  slavery.  *  *  *  Xhe  native  Indians, — 
at  present  amount  to  about  a  thousand — are  nearly  all  servants  or  laborers 
for  the  English,  who  have  contributed  more  to  destroy  their  bodies  by 
the  use  of  strong  liquors,  than  by  any  means  to  improve  their  minds  or 
save  their  souls.  This  slow  poison  jointly  operating  with  the  small-pox, 
and  their  wars,  (but  much  more  destructive  than  both)  has  consumed  the 
Indians,  not  only  in  our  colonies,  but  also  far  and  wide  upon  our  confines. 

Prior  to  the  Revolution,  Newport  was  the  center  of  the  New  Eng- 
land slave  trade.  After  that  war,  it  continued  in  diminishing  activity, 
while  Bristol  came  into  greater  prominence.  On  August  17,  1789,  Samuel 
Hopkins  wrote  to  Moses  Brown:  "The  combined  opposition  to  a  sup- 
pression of  the  slave  trade  is  so  great  and  strong  here  that  I  think  no 
anti-slavery  committee  formed  in  this  town  would  be  able  to  do  much." 
In  1791,  William  EUery,  a  Newporter,  wrote:  'An  Ethiopian  could  as 
soon  change  his  skin  as  a  Newport  merchant  could  be  induced  to  change 
so  lucrative  a  trade  as  that  in  slaves  for  the  slow  profits  of  any  manu- 
factory." State  and  Federal  laws,  prohibiting  the  slave  trade,  were 
boldly  defied  or  artfully  evaded  by  the  daring  traders  of  Rhode  Island. 
When  in  1803,  South  Carolina  opened  her  doors  to  slave  imports,  Rhode 
Island  slave  merchants  sent  out  slave  ships  in  great  numbers.  Of  202 
vessels  entered  at  Charleston  as  slave  carriers,  between  1804  and  1807. 
three  were  from  France,  one  from  Sweden,  one  from  Massachusetts, 
Connecticut  one,  Maryland  four,  Virginia  two,  Great  Britain  seventy, 
South  Carolina  sixty-one  and  Rhode  Island  fifty-nine.  Ten  of  the  fifty- 
nine  slavers  enumerated  were  owned,  ships  and  cargo,  by  James  De  Wolf, 
of  Bristol.  The  honors  and  rewards  of  the  later  slave  trade  were  about 
equally  divided  between  Bristol  and  Newport.  Seven  thousand  nine 
hundred  and  fifty-eight  negroes  were  landed  at  Charleston,  South  Caro- 
lina, in  Rhode  Island  vessels,  3,500  in  vessels  from  Newport,  3,900  in 
Bristol  ships,  and  556  from  Providence.  Conscience,  law,  a  decrease 
in  the  slave  market  of  the  South,  public  opinion, — all  soon  turned  the 
merchant  class  into  broader  and  more  useful  channels  of  service. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 


BLOCK  ISLAND 


THE  RUGGED  SHORES  OF  BLOCK  ISLAND 
The  Ocean  View   Hotel   in   distance 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

BLOCK  ISLAND. 

The  islands  on  the  coast  of  Southern  New  England  are  interesting 
studies  and  Block  Island  is  one  of  the  most  attractive.  It  is  a  pear-shaped 
bit  of  land  and  water,  the  stem  pointing  north,  with  an  area  of  10.5  square 
miles,  or  6,~20  acres.  The  axis  of  the  island  is  an  exact  north  and  south 
line  and  the  axial  line  is  an  extension  of  that  of  the  northern  central  part 
of  the  .State.  The  island  is  twelve  miles  from  Point  Judith,  twenty-five 
from  Newport  and  eighteen  from  Montauk  Point,  the  east  end  of  Long 
Island.  It  has  Long  Island  Sound  on  the  north  and  northwest  and  the 
Atlantic  on  the  east,  south  and  southwest.  Block  Island  has  been  pro- 
nounced "a  unique  specimen  of  the  Creator's  handiwork."  About  one- 
seventh  of  its  area  is  taken  up  with  fresh  and  salt  water  ponds.  The  sur- 
face of  the  land  is  made  up  of  hills  and  valleys  as  uneven  as  are  the  waters' 
of  the  Atlantic  that  beat  at  its  cliffs  in  a  mighty  storm.  A  writer,  in 
describing  the  contour,  says : 

Imagine  several  tidal  waves  moving  from  west  to  east,  each  rising  one 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  above  the  sea  level,  and  their  bases  nearly  touching 
each  other ;  and  on  the  tops,  sides  and  intervals  of  these  introduce  "chop 
seas,"  in  every  conceivable  shape  and  position,  covering  the  tidal  waves, 
and  you  have  an  outline  view  of  Block  Island  from  Beacon  Hill,  in  the 
clear  light  of  an  autumn  day. 

When  the  island  was  discovered  it  was  well  wooded  with  oak,  hickory, 
elm.  ash,  cedar,  juniper  and  pine,  and  the  underbrush  and  berry-bearing 
shrubbery  of  the  mainland.  The  timber  was  cut  for  house  and  boat  build- 
ing and  the  wood  was  used  for  fuel  to  such  an  extent  that  the  island  could 
not  sustain  the  smaller  tree  growth  that  was  so  terribly  windlashed  that 
it  is  now  almost  treeless.  Time  and  training  may  again  restore  shade  and 
forest  trees  over  the  island. 

Fortunately,  for  the  protection  of  the  agricultural  interests  of  the 
people,  the  land  was  full  of  great  quantities  of  stone  for  walls,  and  it  is 
estimated  that  there  are  at  least  three  hundred  miles  of  stone  fences  on  the 
island.  Many  large  granite  boulders  are  scattered  over  the  land  in  evi- 
dence of  a  foreign  origin.  The  following  is  a  classified  list  of  natural  and 
historic  features  of  Block  Island : 

Hills — Beacon  (300  feet  high).  Sandy,  Enos,  Beach  Plum.  Bush  Lot, 
Harbor,  Pilot,  Plover,  Hancock,  Gunners,  Phyllises,  Cherry,  Titus. 

Ponds — Great  Salt,  Sachem,  Middle,  Trims,  Harbor,  Sands,  Fresh, 
Mitchell's,  Long,  Reed,  Catch,  Muddy,  Ball's,  Mill,  Quicksand. 

Springs — Aliens,  Boiling,  Dick. 


5i6  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

Brooks — Stephens,  Coonimus,  Mill. 

Swamps — Great,  Whale,  Continental,  Kents,  Sisson,  Sandy  Hill, 
Coonimus,  Wixet,  Spring,  Cranberry  Bog,  Titus,  Common  Point,  Burnt, 
Dickens. 

Light  Houses  and  Buoys — Sandy  Point,  Breakwater,  Southeast 
Light  and  Fog  Horn,  Sandy  Point  Whistling  Buoy,  Southwest  Ledge 
Bell  Buoy. 

Places  of  Special  Historic  Interest — Cow  Cove  and  Boulder 
Monument  to  First  Settlers,  Palatine  Graves,  Pocock  Meadow,  Black  Rock 
Gully,  the  Old  Pier,  Fort  Island,  Indian  Head  Neck,  Indian  Burial  Ground, 
Mohegan  Bluffs,  the  old  Harbor,  the  Breakwater,  Great  Salt  Pond  Har- 
bor and  Pier. 

Block  Island  is  a  part  of  the  great  glacial  product  of  our  Southern 
New  England  coast  and  is  easily  identified  as  related  to  Long  Island  on 
the  west  and  the  Elizabeth  Islands,  Martha's  Vineyard  and  Nantucket  on 
the  east. 

Geologists  tell  us  that  the  coast  line  of  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island 
and  Connecticut  extended,  after  the  diluvial  deposits  of  the  ice  age,  from 
fifteen  to  thirty  and  possibly  forty  miles  into  the  ocean,  and  that  the  cease- 
less action  of  the  ocean,  in  the  long  ages  subsequent  to  that  deposit,  has 
worn  away  the  land  area,  converting  it  into  navigable  salt  seas  and  islands. 
We  may  safely  assume  that  the  islands  above  named  were  part  of  the 
mainland  at  the  close  of  the  glacial  epoch  and  that  their  present  position 
and  form  are  due  to  ocean  action.  In  proof  of  this,  it  is  only  necessary  to 
state  that  the  strata,  material  and  contour  of  Block  Island  are  similar  to 
Long  Island  at  Montaiik  and  in  many  features  are  like  South  Kingstown 
and  Hopkinton  on  the  mainland.  At  the  time  that  Block  Island  was 
attached  to  the  mainland  on  the  north,  Long  Island  Sound,  if  it  existed  at 
all,  may  have  been  a  small  glacial  lake  or  the  head  of  a  stream,  flowing 
westward  through  the  East  river,  at  New  York. 

In  the  year  1840,  Charles  T.  Jackson,  M.  D.,  an  eminent  New  Eng- 
land geologist,  published  a  report  on  the  geological  and  agricultural  survey 
of  the  State  of  Rhode  Island,  ordered  by  the  General  Assembly.  A  portion 
of  the  report  as  to  New  Shoreham  (Block  Island)  is  as  follows: 

Block  Island  presents  an  irregular  rolling  surface  of  hills  and  valleys 
of  gentle  undulation,  the  hills  rarely  attaining  more  than  150  feet  above 
the  sea  level,  while  the  valleys  are  rounded  basins,  frequently  filled  with 
excellent  peat. 

The  authentic  history  of  Block  Island  opens  with  a  double  tragedy. 
The  year  is  1636,  the  same  year  that  Roger  Williams  and  his  little  band 
pitched  their  tents  on  the  banks  of  the  Moshassuck,  and  called  the  place 
Providence.  The  story  goes  that  one  John  Oldham,  of  Boston,  a  very 
successful  Indian  trader,  who  had  won  the  confidence  of  the  Narragansetts 
and  Pequots,  on  the  mainland,  in  exchanging  English  goods  for  New  Eng- 


BLOCK  ISLAND  517 

land  furs,  endeavored  to  extend  his  trade  among  the  Manisses,  the  owners 
and  occupants  of  this  island.  Making  a  landing,  Oldham  exposed  his 
wares  and  attractive  trinkets  to  the  curious  and  avaricious  eyes  of  Manis- 
sean  men  and  women.  They  saw,  they  desired  and  then  planned  an  easy 
way  to  enrich  themselves  at  little  financial  cost.  Seized  suddenly  with  a 
get-rich-quick  scheme  of  a  more  barbarous  age  in  manners,  if  not  in 
morals,  the  islanders  tomahawked  Oldham  and  his  business  companions 
and  divided  the  treasures  of  the  white  face,  obtained  without  money  or 
price,  among  the  red-faced  Manisseans.  But  a  greater  tragedy  was  in 
store.  The  news  of  the  death  of  Oldham  and  his  company  came  to  the 
ears  and  stirred  the  spirits  of  Master  Harry  Vane,  Governor  of  Massachu- 
setts Bay  Colony.  His  subjects  had  been  murdered  by  traitorous  savages 
and  to  avenge  the  deed  the  worthy  General  Court  sent  forth  an  hundred 
well-armed  soldiers,  wearing  helmets,  thick,  stiff  collars  and  breast  plates, 
under  command  of  Captain  John  Endicott,  afterwards  the  stern,  uncom- 
promising Governor  of  the  Colony,  and  Captain  John  Underbill,  who 
became  the  most  celebrated  Indian  fighter  of  his  day.  A  fleet  of  boats 
brought  Colonel  Endicott's  army  to  the  harbor  of  Manissees,  where 
they  were  met  by  the  hostile  braves,  armed  with  bows  and  arrows,  to  dis- 
pute their  landing.  Once  on  the  beach,  the  old  bell  muzzles  carried  bullets 
beyond  the  Indian  arrows,  and  many  a  red  man  hit  the  dust  with  a  leaden 
ball  in  his  head  or  heart.  The  harbor  surf  made  a  rough  landing  for  the 
troops,  while  fifty  warriors  on  the  shore  let  fly  their  stone-jjointed  arrows 
with  dangerous  precision.  Wrote  Captain  Underbill :  "They  drew  near 
to  the  water's  side,  and  let  fly  at  the  soldiers,  as  though  they  had  meant  to 
make  an  end  of  us  in  a  moment.  They  shot  a  young  gentleman  in  the 
neck,  through  a  collar,  for  stiffness  as  if  it  had  been  an  oaken  board,  and 
entered  his  flesh  a  good  depth.  Myself  received  an  arrow  through  my 
coat  sleeve,  a  second  against  my  helmet  on  the  forehead;  so  as  if  God  in 
his  providence  had  not  moved  the  heart  of  my  wife  to  persuade  me  to  carry 
it  along  with  me  I  had  been  slain.  Let  no  man,"  he  adds,  "despise  advice 
AND  counsel  of  his  wife,  though  she  be  a  woman." 

Once  the  Boston  army  was  on  the  beach,  the  Indians  fled,  pursued 
by  the  Boston  troops.  "Slay,  bum,  destroy."  was  the  order  of  the  day. 
The  slaughter  of  Indians,  the  destruction  of  wigwams,  the  burning  of  the 
stores  of  com,  of  which  there  was  plenty  for  winter's  supplies,  satisfied 
in  part  the  deadly  wrath  of  the  whites  on  that  autumn  day  in  1636 — and 
marked  the  first  battle  on  Rhode  Island  territory  between  the  English  and 
the  Indians. 

The  battle  of  Colonel  Endicott  was  the  beginning  of  the  end  of  the 
Manisses  Indians.  Their  full  conquest  came  on  a  second  attack  by  Colonel 
Israel  Stoughton,  after  which  the  Pine  Tree  flag  of  the  Bay  floated  over 
Block  Island  as  captured  territory  and  Miantonomi,  chief  of  the  Karra- 
gansetts,  acknowledged  the  justice  of  the  claim. 


Si8  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

The  Manisses  were  a  brave,  an  industrious  and  a  well-to-do  people. 
The  rich  lands  of  the  island  yielded  excellent  harvests  of  corn,  wampum 
was  manufactured  for  the  mainland,  their  bows  and  arrows,  baskets  and 
mats  showed  art,  skill  and  prowess,  while  their  ability  to  protect  their 
island  from  their  Indian  enemies  is  complete  evidence  of  their  superiority 
to  their  kinsman  of  the  main.  They  were  the  navigators  of  the  Southern 
New  England  coast,  and  had  not  the  Indian  leader,  Audsah,  struck  the 
fatal  blow  at  Oldham,  the  tribal  history  of  a  naturally  noble  people  would 
have  had  another  ending.  As  it  was,  the  survivors  of  these  conflicts  with 
the  whites  were  made  slaves  and  bondmen  to  the  early  settlers,  who,  in 
1661,  purchased  the  island  and  its  belongings  and  made  it  their  future 
peaceful  and  happy  home. 

Twenty-five  years  pass.  The  persons  and  estates  of  the  Manisses 
have  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Bay  Colony ;  thence  to  Governor  Endi- 
cott  and  associates,  Richard  Bellingham,  Daniel  Dennison  and  William 
Hawthorne,  and  from  these  owners,  in  fee,  to  a  company  of  sixteen  men, 
most  of  whom  became  the  owners,  and  first  permanent  white  settlers  of 
the  island.  In  the  sale  of  the  island  to  Endicott,  the  Bay  Colony  made  a 
great  territorial  and  financial  blunder,  for  this  formidable  bit  of  land  com- 
manded the  shores  of  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut  and  would  undoubt- 
edly have  proved  the  key  to  the  possession  of  both,  or  of  Rhode  Island, 
with  certainty. 

The  fortunate  purchasers  of  Block  Island  were  mainly  from  Brain- 
tree,  Massachusetts.  The  names  of  the  first  twelve  proprietors  were :  Dr. 
John  Alcock,  of  Roxbury ;  Thomas  Faxon,  Peter  George,  Thomas  Terry, 
Richard  Ellis.  Samuel  Deering,  Simon  Ray,  of  Braintree,  and  Felix  Whar- 
ton, Hew  Williams,  John  Glaffer,  Edward  Vose  and  John  Rathbone. 
The  price  paid  was  £400 — $2,000. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  Company  was  held  at  Dr.  Alcock's  office, 
Roxbury,  Massachusetts,  August  17,  1660.  It  was  agreed  to  purchase  and 
settle  the  Island,  and  a  barque  and  shallop  were  to  be  built  to  transport 
passengers,  freight  and  live  stock.  By  the  close  of  the  year  1660,  the 
vessels  had  been  built  at  Braintree  with  William  Rose  as  captain  of  the 
bark,  and  William  Edwards  and  Samuel  Staples  to  sail  the  shallop  around 
Cape  Cod,  meet  the  passengers  at  Taunton  and  transport  them  to  the 
Island.  Captain  Rose,  master  of  the  bark,  sailed  from  Braintree,  early  in 
the  month  of  April,  1661,  with  the  goods  and  chattels  of  the  settlers,  and 
landed  his  cargo  probably  in  Cow  Cove,  where  the  common  cow  of  the 
company  set  an  example  of  the  first  swimming  feat  to  the  first  company 
of  later  Island  amphibians.  April,  1661,  may  be  regarded  as  the  date  of 
the  white  settlement  of  Block  Island  and  its  occupation  by  representatives 
of  the  sixteen  purchasers  of  the  Island.    The  survey  of  the  land  was  made 


BLOCK  ISLAND  519 

by  Mr.  Peter  Noyes,  of  Sudbury,  "an  able  proved  surveyor,"  directed  by 
Mr.  Thomas  Faxon,  "an  able  knowing  man,"  and  one  of  the  Braintree 
proprietors.  At  the  house  of  Felix  Wharton  at  Boston,  on  the  first  Tues- 
day in  September,  1661,  the  plat  of  the  Island  was  presented  by  Mr. 
Faxon.  The  north  part  of  the  Island  was  divided  into  seventeen  parts  or 
lots,  and  the  west  and  southeast  portions  into  sixteen  other  lots  of  equal 
value.  Si.xteen  lots  in  each  of  two  divisions  were  selected  by  lot  by  the 
sixteen  proprietors  and  a  seventeenth  lot  at  the  north  end  was  set  apart 
as  "Ministers'  Land." 

These  hardy  men  found  their  new  home  lands  heavily  wooded  with 
oak,  walnut,  elm,  ash,  cedar  and  pine.  The  soil  was  fertile,  though  rocky, 
and  the  lowlands  abounded  in  peat  for  fuel.  The  Island,  as  to-day,  was 
diversified  with  a  curious  mixture  of  hills  and  valleys,  much  resembling 
a  chop  sea  in  a  heavy  northeast  storm.  Huge  boulders,  transported  by 
the  ice  carriers  of  the  glacial  age,  marked  every  acre  of  upland,  and  the 
hundreds  of  miles  of  stone  walls  bear  witness  to  the  hardness  of  the  soil 
conditions  for  cultivation  and  the  hardihood  of  the  men  who  subdued  the 
savage  conditions  of  the  Island.  Indian  corn  was  the  natural  product  of 
the  soil,  while  rye,  barley,  oats,  potatoes,  garden  vegetables  and  luxuries, 
fed  by  the  sea  foods  of  vegetables  and  fish,  have  provided  an  abundance 
of  the  best  table  supplies,  while  the  sea  with  its  wealth  of  fish  of  many  and 
rich  varieties  have  made  a  people  of  sound  health,  of  great  physical  and 
mental  strength  and  with  a  remarkable  record  for  long  life. 

Just  here  one  is  led  to  ask  in  Mrs.  Hemans'  line, 

"What  sought  they  thus  afar? 
Bright  jewels  of  the  mine? 
The  wealth  of  seas? 
The  spoils  of  war." 

These  hard-headed  men  are  freemen  of  the  Bay  Colony, — citizens  of 
Boston,  Roxbury,  Dorchester,  Braintree,  now  Quincy.  What  could  tempt 
men  of  sense  and  substance  to  leave  the  Hub  for  the  broken  end  of  a 
spoke?  The  culture  and  refinement  of  the  metropolis  for  the  savage 
wilderness  island,  clad  in  fogs  and  clouds  and  northeasters?  The  Puritan 
orthodoxy  of  the  Mathers  for  the  exhortations  of  pious  Simon  Ray? 
The  society  of  the  Endicotts,  the  Iligginsons.  the  Winthrops  and  the 
Adamses  for  the  solitariness  of  the  Salt  Pond,  Beacon  Hill  and  the  South 
Shore  ? 

The  settlement  of  this  island,  leagues  from  the  main,  7fas  no  accident. 
It  was  the  deliberate  plan  of  strong  men  and  presumably  of  an  equal 
number  of  strong  women.  Their  lot,  on  arrival  on  a  new  continent,  had 
placed  them  on  the  best  possessions  of  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony.  They 
had  purchased  lands  and  built  homes.     In  the  middle  of  active  life  in 


520  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

and  around  Boston,  a  new  project  is  presented  to  the  settlers  of  the  Bay, 
— the  purchase  and  occupation  of  Block  Island, — not  a  land  speculation  to 
involve  others,  but  an  investment  of  estates,  persons  and  future  hopes  of 
families  and  posterity. 

A  careful  study  of  men  and  motives  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  only 
men  and  women  of  superior  qualities  could  or  would  engage  in  such  a 
movement,  involving  as  it  did  isolation,  privations,  and  toils,  inseparable 
from  the  migration.  A  true  measure  of  standards  gives  to  the  sturdy 
settlers  of  1661,  the  quality  of  self-conscious  confidence  in  their  own 
abilities,  a  natural,  normal  independence,  a  singular  personal  faith;  more 
than  that,  a  communal  faith,  binding  families  in  one  fellowship,  in  co- 
operative friendship,  in  federated  protection.  Such  social  units  are  the 
basis  of  towns  and  commonwealths.  The  pledge  of  mutual  helpfulness 
is  involved  in  the  compact.  The  closer  ties  of  socialism  are  positive  gains 
over  the  losses  of  wider  and  separated  interests.  The  narrowing  of  the 
sphere  of  individual  and  social  influence  intensifies  and  deepens  its  exer- 
cise. The  dissipation  of  force,  physical,  mental,  spiritual,  is  lessened  in 
the  compact  and  unity  of  family,  social  and  political  life.  Solidity  and 
solidarity  ensue,  while  individualism  is  not  sacrificed, — the  greatest  per- 
sonal asset,  vigorous  health  and  rural  sea  life,  make  for  temperature,  good 
morals,  intelligent  thinking  and  virtuous  living.  Profligacy  and  race 
degeneracy  are  the  products  of  congested  populations  and  excessive  wealth 
far  removed  from  island  life. 

The  history  of  individuals  and  families,  whose  lives  have  been  spent 
on  Block  Island,  fully  confirms  all  that  I  have  predicated  as  probable  and 
reasonable  as  to  the  settlers  and  later  inhabitants.  This  Island  has  pro- 
duced and  nurtured  a  long  catalogue  of  men  and  women  of  whom  any 
town  or  commonwealth  might  boast.  Some  have  remained  to  conduct 
affairs  at  home  while  many,  on  land  or  sea,  have  brought  honor  to  their 
families  and  to  the  community  of  their  birth. 

Among  the  men  who  set  the  standards  of  character  and  citizenship 
here,  it  is  well  worth  our  while  to  name  a  few  of  the  founders, — types  of 
their  associates. 

Captain  James  Sands  came  from  an  old  English  family,  prominent 
in  the  politics  of  England  during  the  reign  of  Henry  VII,  and  VIII.  His 
grandparents,  it  is  said,  reached  the  remarkable  ages  of  140  and  120  years. 
James  and  wife  landed  at  Plymouth  in  1658,  and  three  years  later  were 
land  owners  and  settlers  on  this  Island.  In  1664,  the  General  Assembly 
of  Rhode  Island  notified  the  inhabitants  of  Block  Island,  that  by  the 
charter  of  Charles  II,  of  1663,  they  were  under  the  care  of  the  Rhode 
Island  government  and  James  Sands  was  made  constable  of  the  Island, 
the  first  civil  officer  by  appointment  of  the  Colony.     In  1665,  Sands  and 


BLOCK  ISLAND  521 

Thomas  Terr\'  sat  in  the  General  Court  of  Commissioners  of  Rliode 
Island.  In  1672,  Mr.  Sands  was  the  leader  in  the  movement  for  the  in- 
corporation of  the  island  as  a  Rhode  Island  town  under  the  name  of  "New 
Shorcham.  otherwise  Block  Island."  Mr.  Sands  built  the  first  stone 
garrison  house  on  the  Island,  to  which  the  people  fled  for  protection 
against  the  attacks  of  the  French  and  Indians;  was  a  generous  friend  of 
the  needy,  made  his  garrison  house  the  meeting  house  of  the  people  for 
Sabbath  worship,  and  in  every  way  showed  an  interest  in  the  welfare  of 
the  people.  The  historian  Livermore  calls  Capt.  James  Sands  "one  of 
the  noblest  characters  of  New  England."  His  family  and  descendants 
have  occupied  positions  of  trust  and  honor,  both  civil  and  military  in 
State  and  nation.  His  son,  Capt.  John,  is  described  by  the  historian 
Niles  "as  a  gentleman  of  great  part  and  superior  powers."  Two  sons 
settled  on  Long  Island  and  gave  the  name  to  Sands  I'oint. 

A  grandson,  Kdward  Sands,  represented  Block  Island  in  the  General 
Assembly  from  1740  to  1760. 

Edward  Sands,  Jr.,  born  1748,  was  a  distinguished  patriot  of  the 
Revolution.  Col.  Ray  Sands,  of  the  Revolutionary  period  served  his 
country  throughout  the  Revolutionary  War,  removing  to  South  Kings- 
town, where  he  occupied  many  offices,  and  represented  both  towns  in  the 
General  -Assembly. 

John  Sands,  called  by  Mr.  Livermore,  "the  great  man  of  the  Island 
during  the  Revolution,"  was  captain  of  the  military  company,  and  was 
the  author  of  that  extraordinary  paper  adopted  by  the  Islanders,  in  which 
the  citizens  assumed  rights  transcending  the  charters  of  England  and  the 
Colony  of  Rhode  Island,  virtually  erecting  the  Island  into  an  independent 
democracy,  in  1779.  The  public  spirit,  patriotism,  wealth  and  high  char- 
acter of  the  Sands  family  places  it  among  the  leaders  of  Rhode  Island 
society. 

Simon  Ray  was  another  of  the  remarkable  men  of  the  founders 
group.  At  the  age  of  twenty-five,  he  joined  the  associates  in  the  purchase 
of  the  island,  and  with  Mr.  Samuel  Deering  of  Braintree  built  the  shallop, 
at  their  own  cost,  in  which  the  first  settlers  sailed  from  Taunton  to  the 
Island.  He  spent  seventy-seven  years  in  generous  services  for  the  people, 
devoting  his  ample  fortune,  time  and  talents  to  their  welfare.  In  the 
absence  of  a  minister,  Mr.  Ray  opened  his  house  for  religious  services 
and  often  conducted  the  exercises.  The  monument  over  his  grave  evi- 
dences his  benevolence,  his  Christian  character,  "his  life  being  in  this  a 
living  instance  as  in  all  others  of  a  lovely  example  of  Christian  virtue." 
On  account  of  Mr.  Ray's  blindness,  the  town  meetings  were  held  at  his 
house,  and  such  was  the  veneration  of  the  people  that  he  was  elected  as 
chief  warden  for  about  half  a  century,  and  for  thirty  years  he  was  the 


522  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

representative  of  the  town  in  the  General  Assembly.  Mr.  Ray  died  at 
the  venerable  age  of  102  years. 

His  son,  Simon,  Jr.,  succeeded  his  father  in  local  offices  and  in 
excellence  of  character,  dying  at  the  age  of  86.  He  was  a  fine  scion  of 
the  good  Ray  stock.  The  flower  of  the  Ray  family  appears  in  the  third 
generation  in  the  four  daughters  of  Simon  Ray,  Jr., — Judith,  born  October 
4,  1726,  Anna,  born  September  27,  1828,  Catharine,  born  July  10,  1731, 
and  Phebe,  born  September  10,  1733.  These  four  girls  were  Island  chil- 
dren, their  mother  being  an  Islander  of  the  second  generation.  As  they 
grew  to  womanhood,  they  illustrated  the  highest  graces  of  form  and 
feature,  and  were  all  distinguished  for  their  physical  beauty.  Added  to 
these  personal  attractions  were  intellectual  strength  and  brilliancy.  When 
Benjamin  Franklin  was  a  young  printer  at  Newport,  he  received  an 
article  for  his  press  written  by  Miss  Catharine  Ray,  and  so  much  was  he 
impressed  with  the  unrecognized  talent  of  the  young  authoress,  that  he  at 
once  made  her  acquaintance,  wrote  pleasant  words  to  and  about  her,  and 
his  admiration  mingled  with  love  might  have  made  Catharine  the  wife  of 
the  great  philosopher,  had  he  not  then  possessed  a  wife  of  an  earlier 
choice.  One  of  the  gifts  that  passed  between  them  was  a  cheese  from 
her  father's  farm  on  the  Island,  in  acknowledgment  of  which,  Franklin 
wrote,  "We  talk  of  you  every  time  it  (the  cheese)  comes  to  the  table. 
She  (Mrs.  F.)  is  sure  you  are  a  sensible  girl  and  a  notable  housekeeper, 
and  talks  of  bequeathing  me  to  you  as  a  legacy.  *  *  *  And  since  she 
is  willing  I  should  love  you  as  much  as  you  are  willing  to  be  loved  by 
me,  let  us  join  in  wishing  the  old  lady  (Mrs.  F.)  a  long  life  and  a  happy." 
Mr.  John  Bigelow,  one  of  Franklin's  biographers,  writes:  "Franklin 
had  a  remarkable  affinity  for  superior  people,"  and  "it  is  pleasant  to  follow 
the  growth  and  loyalty  of  his  friendship  for  Miss  Ray." 

The  four  beautiful  and  brilliant  sisters  were  destined  to  figure  among 
the  highest  and  noblest  of  the  land. 

Judith  became  the  wife  of  Hon.  Thomas  Hubbard,  of  Boston,  a 
man  of  wealth  and  of  family  distinction,  and  treasurer  of  Harvard  College. 
Through  her  marriage  she  became  a  prominent  member  of  the  best  society 
of  Boston  and  Cambridge. 

Anna  was  the  desire  of  many  suiters,  but  gave  her  heart  and  hand  to 
Samuel  Ward,  Governor  of  Rhode  Island  and  a  distinguished  patriot  in 
the  struggle  for  Colonial  freedom. 

Catharine,  Franklin's  favorite,  married  Governor  William  Greene, 
of  Rhode  Island,  of  the  distinguished  Greene  family  of  Warwick.  The 
old  mansion  in  which  Gov.  Greene  and  wife  received  Washington  and 
Lafayette  and  other  notables  of  the  time  is  still  standing  in  the  Greene 


BLOCK  ISLAND  523 

name,  and  near  it  are  the  well  visited  graves  of  William  and  Catharine 
Ray  Greene,  and  several  of  their  children. 

I'hebe  married  William  Littlefield,  of  Block  Island,  a  very  reputable 
and  honored  citizen.  Her  daughter  Catharine,  named  for  her  aunt,  (Mrs. 
Greene)  was  left  an  orphan,  very  young  and  was  adopted  by  her,  and 
while  a  member  of  her  uncle's  family  was  courted  by  the  brilliant  General 
Nathanael  Greene,  and  later  became  his  wife.  The  historian,  George 
Washington  Greene,  writes  of  her: 

The  courtship  sped  swiftly  and  smoothly,  and  more  than  once,  in  the 
course  of  it,  Greene  followed  Catharine  to  Block  Island,  where  the  time 
passed  gleefully  in  merry  makings,  of  which  dancing  formed  a  principal 
part.  She  was  an  intimate  acquaintance  of  Martha  Washington,  as  well 
as  of  the  General,  meeting  her  many  times  at  army  headquarters  when- 
ever the  army  rested  long  enough  to  permit  the  officers'  wives  to  join 
them.  An  intimacy  sprang  up  between  her  and  Mrs.  Washington,  which, 
like  that  between  their  husbands,  ripened  into  friendship  and  continued 
while  both  lived.  Her  first  child  was  named  George  Washington  Greene, 
and  the  second  Martha  Washington. 

Many  daughters  of  American  families  have  done  virtuously  and 
made  their  lives  distinguished  for  purity,  ability  and  patriotism,  but  it  is 
doubtful  whether  another  example  can  be  found  that  will  equal  the  records 
of  the  four  sisters,  granddaughters  of  Simon  Ray,  of  noteworthy  mem- 
ory. No  greater  honor  attaches  to  this  Island  than  the  fact  that  four  of 
her  daughters  of  one  family  "to  the  manner  born,"  were  the  intimate  and 
closely  associated  friends  of  Franklin,  Washington,  the  Greenes,  the 
Wards,  and  their  families,  and  others  of  distinction  in  all  parts  of  our 
land.    Surely  these  were  among  the  excellent  of  the  land. 

Thomas  Terry  was  the  hero  of  Indian  warfare  and  the  bravest  of  the 
defenders  of  the  Island  against  French  and  Indian  enemies.  John  Rath- 
bone,  one  of  the  wealthiest  of  the  founders,  was  the  ancestor  of  a  long 
and  influential  family,  which  has  made  an  honorable  record  on  the  Island 
and  in  other  parts  of  the  State.  Rev.  Samuel  Niles  was  born  of  the 
Sands  and  Niles  stock,  in  1674,  his  grandfather  James  Sands  having 
been  the  first  physician  on  the  Island  and  one  of  the  first  emancipation- 
ists in  America.  Mr.  Niles  was  the  first  student  that  entered  and  grad- 
uated at  Harvard  College  from  Rhode  Island.  Leaving  college  in  1699, 
Mr.  Niles  became  a  settled  minister  on  the  Island  in  1700,  receiving  a 
settlement  gift  of  seven  acres  of  land  on  Fresh  Pond;  was  settled  at 
Braintree,  Massachusetts,  in  171 1,  and  in  1760  wrote  a  history  of  the 
French  and  Indian  War,  in  which  he  incorporated  much  of  interest  rela- 
tive to  the  strenuous  and  perilous  experiences  of  the  Islanders  during 
that  long  and  momentous  struggle  on  the  American  continent.    President 


524  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

John  Adams  wrote,  "I  revered  and  still  revere  the  honest,  virtuous  and 
pious  man,  Rev.  Samuel  Niles." 

Brief  reference  should  be  made  to  Hon.  W.  G.  Angell,  born  on  the 
Island, — a  representative  in  Congress  from  the  State  of  New  York;  of 
the  Briggs  family  which  produced  Nathaniel,  Capt.  Jeremiah  and  others 
of  eminence  on  sea  and  land;  of  the  Dickens  family;  the  Dodges,  of 
whom  Aunt  Betsey  was  a  noted  example;  of  the  Hulls,  born  for  the  sea; 
of  the  Littlefields,  numerous,  public  spirited,  influential ;  the  Lewises,  late 
comers,  but  among  the  honorable  of  the  town ;  the  Mitchells,  enterprising, 
virtuous,  honored ;  the  Motts,  true  and  faithful ;  the  Paines,  from  Capt. 
Thomas,  who  fought  the  first  naval  battle  with  the  French,  within  Block 
Island  waters ;  of  the  Roses,  perpetual  bloomers  since  the  planting  of 
Tormut  Rose  in  1661,  one  of  the  family,  Hon.  Anderson  C.  Rose,  be- 
coming a  Lieutenant-Governor  of  his  native  State;  of  the  Sheffields,  in 
whose  family  we  find  Hon.  John  G.,  one  of  the  most  enterprising  and 
honored  citizens  of  the  Island ;  Hon.  William  Paine,  the  eminent  lawyer 
and  statesman ;  of  the  Champlins,  who  have  made  an  excellent  family 
record  and  have  in  the  President  of  the  Day,  Hon.  Christopher  Cham- 
plin,  a  typical  and  an  honored  representative  who  has  won  his  honors  by 
worth  and  hard  fighting;  the  Ball  family,  from  Edward  Ball,  deputy 
warden,  1702,  has  been  one  of  the  most  useful  and  valuable  of  the  older 
residents.  Hon.  Peter  Ball,  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly,  obtained 
an  appropriation  of  £1200  from  the  Colony  for  building  a  new  pier. 
Hon.  Nicholas  Ball,  a  descendant  inherited  the  enterprise  and  honorable 
character  of  his  ancestors.  From  a  cook's  mate  at  $6  a  month,  he  rose 
by  a  natural  ambition  to  a  position  of  honor,  influence  and  wealth  in 
State  and  Nation.  His  name  will  always  be  associated  with  the  Govern- 
ment Harbor,  of  the  Island,  and  the  making  of  Block  Island  a  great  sum- 
mer resort.  The  historian  Livermore  accords  to  Nicholas  Ball  good 
judgment,  indomitable  perseverance,  a  magnetic  and  controlling  influence 
and  unchallenged  success.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  his  name  will  be  long 
held  in  honor  by  the  people  of  Block  Island,  the  citizens  of  the  State,  and 
a  large  circle  the  world  over. 

This  ocean  island  has  been  the  storm  centre  of  many  a  terrific  gale, 
and  its  shores  and  headlands  the  occasion  and  the  scene  of  the  wreck  of 
many  a  costly  ship,  with  the  added  contribution  to  the  Storm  King  of 
valuable  lives  and  cargoes.  Every  such  loss  of  life  and  property  con- 
stitutes a  tragedy  and  invests  the  Island  with  an  unwritten  history  that 
only  the  poet  and  the  painter  can  portray,  but  the  weird  and  ghoulish 
story  of  The  Palatitic  outrivals  all  in  the  conditions  and  motives  that  are 
supposed  to  have  inspired  the  event,  and  in  the  singular  phenomena,  the 
Palatine  Light,  which,  like  an  accusing  conscience  appears  off  the  coast, 


BLOCK  ISLAND  525 

to  remind  the  people  of  an  unrepentant  crime.  The  tradition  goes  that  in 
1755,  the  year  of  the  Lisbon  earthquake,  and  also  that  of  the  singular  and 
utter  self-annihilation  of  "The  Deacon's  One  I  loss  Shay,"  in  the  height 
of  an  equinoctial  storm,  'midst  the  roar  of  the  ocean  on  the  South  Shore, 
the  wild  shrieks  of  the  sea  birds,  and  the  wailing  of  the  gale,  the  shots  of 
a  signal  gim  were  heard  above  the  voices  of  the  tempest,  as  of  a  merchant- 
man driven  before  the  gale  to  meet  a  sure  destruction  on  a  terrific  lee- 
shore. 

False  lights  hung  on  piratical  poles,  lured  the  ship  with  her  valuable 
cargo,  and  what  for  a  moment  seemed  a  beacon  of  hope  to  the  terror- 
stricken  passengers  and  crew,  told  the  doom  of  the  ill-fated  Palatine, 
while  the  islanders,  like  wild  vultures,  sw'ooped  down  on  the  wreck,  en- 
riching their  homes  with  the  ill-gotten  wealth  of  the  freighted  ship,  while 
the  ghastly  corpses  of  the  dead  were  the  silent  witnesses  to  the  deeds  of 
plunder,  of  shame  and  of  barbarism.  Whittier  tells  the  story  of  "The 
Palatine,"  as  follows : 

The  ship  that  a  hundred  years  before. 

Freighted  deep  with  its  goodly  store, 

In  the  gales  of  the  Equinox  went  ashore. 

The  eager  Islanders,  one  by  one 

Counted  the  shots  of  her  signal  gun. 

And  heard  the  crash  as  she  drove  right  on. 

Into  the  teeth  of  death  she  sped ; 
(May  God  forgive  the  hands  that  fed 
The  false  lights  over  the  Rocky  Head!) 

O,  men  and  brothers,  what  sights  were  there! 
White  upturned  faces,  hands  stretched  in  prayer! 
Where  waves  had  pity,  could  ye  not  spare? 

Down  swooped  the  wreckers  like  birds  of  prey. 
Tearing  the  heart  of  the  ship  away. 
And  the  dead  had  never  a  word  to  say. 

And  there  with  a  ghastly  glimmer  and  shine. 
Over  the  rocks  and  the  seething  brine, 
They  biirncd  the  wreck  of  the  Palatine. 

In  their  cruel  hearts,  as  they  homeward  sped, 
"The  sea  and  the  rocks  are  dumb,"  they  said, 
"There  be  no  reckoning  with  the  dead." 

And  now  Nemesis  w^ith  her  avenging  Furies  appears  to  remind  the 
guilty  Islanders  of  their  awful  crime  by  "The  Palatine  Light,"  a  blaze  of 
fire  rising  from  the  ocean  near  the  northern  point  of  the  Island,  in  varied 
forms  and  luster,  appearing  and  disappearing,  often  so  luminous  as  to 
lighten  the  walls  of  a  room,  with  a  singular  blaze  a  half  mile  from  the 
shore.  Many  believe  it  to  be  a  ship  on  fire,  and  their  vivid  imaginings  fit  it 
with  masts  and  cordage  and  bellying  sails.    Men  now  living  have  seen  this 


526  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

wonderful  vision  and  declare  the  burning  ship  to  be  as  real  as  was  the 
Palatine  conflagration  of  a  century  and  a  half  ago. 

"For  still,"  sings  the  poet,  "on  many  a  moonless  night. 
From  Kingston  Head  and  Montauk  Light, 
The  specter  kindles  and  burns  in  sight. 

And  the  wise  Sound  skippers,  though  skies  be  fine, 
Reef  their  sails  when  they  see  the  sign 
Of  the  blazing  wreck  of  The  Palatine." 

This  is  the  imagery  which  tradition  and  poetry  have  thrown  over  a 
sadly  common  event  to  men  and  women  of  storm  beaten  islands,  to  wit: 
the  wreckage  of  valuable  ships,  cargoes,  crews  and  passengers  in  dense 
fogs  and  heavy  gales.  There  is  little  doubt  but  that  a  Dutch  ship,  possibly 
the  Palatine,  did  land,  or  was  found  a  burning  wreck,  cast  ashore  during 
a  storm,  on  the  Island ;  that  the  oldest  inhabitant  remembers  that  a  woman 
named  "Dutch  Kattem"  or  "Katharine,"  came  on  shore  from  a  ship,  called 
"The  Palatine ;"  that  she  married  a  negro  slave,  and  made  her  living  by 
fortune  telling ;  and  that  all  the  strange  stories  of  the  Palatine  originated 
with  her.  Certain  it  is  that  no  such  event  as  Whittier  describes  could 
have  taken  place  on  Block  Island,  whose  inhabitants  have  been  noted  for 
humanity,  generosity  and  self-sacrifice  towards  all  the  unfortunates  who 
have  been  wrecked  on  their  shores.  If  alive  they  have  been  cared  for  as 
brother  men;  if  dead  they  have  had  Christian  burial.  The  Island  officers 
from  pious  Simon  Ray  to  the  present  day  have  thrown  about  the  storm 
tossed  sons  of  the  sea  their  arms  of  deliverance  and  protection,  risking 
their  own  lives  to  save  those  whom  Providence  had  brought  within  their 
power  to  rescue.  It  is  doubtful  if  the  pages  of  American  history  can  show 
more  splendid  examples  of  personal  courage,  self-sacrifice  and  heroism, 
than  have  been  illustrated  in  the  stormy  seas  and  along  the  shores  of  this 
sea-girt  isle,  by  the  hardy  native  seamen  of  Block  Island.  Let  the  signal 
of  distress  appear  in  the  offing,  and  a  score  of  fearless  men  launch  out 
upon  the  deep,  each  vying  with  the  other  in  the  braving  and  breasting  of 
peril,  to  save  a  single  life,  or  to  protect  and  guide  to  safe  harbors,  vessels 
and  crews,  threatened  with  destruction. 

Two  and  one-half  centuries  ago  Block  Island  was  covered  with 
forests  and  occupied  by  Narragansett  Indians,  with  several  hundred 
warriors.  The  seas  gave  them  their  fish  and  the  soil  their  com  and  beans. 
They  lived  their  savage  life.  Then  came  a  band  of  hardy  men  and  women 
with  their  children  and  made  this  Island  their  permanent  home.  Honor 
and  honesty  ruled  the  purchase.  Access  to  the  main  and  to  their  old 
friends  was  not  easy ;  visits  to  Newport,  Providence,  Boston  and  New 
York  were  not  frequent.  Isolated,  they  became  self  reliant  and  self  pro- 
tective.    For  a  century  they  were  harassed  by  Indians  and  French  foes 


BLOCK  ISLAND  527 

and  with  their  own  strong  right  arms  they  won  the  victory, — often  as 
much  by  wisdom  and  strategy  as  by  force  and  arms.  Mariners  from 
necessity,  they  became  masters  of  their  calling  and  the  seas  were  their 
home.  Merchants  trusted  Block  Island  captains  with  rich  cargoes,  to 
and  from  all  known  ports  of  trade,  over  all  seas.  The  Grand  Banks  as 
well  as  all  Atlantic  fish-bearing  waters  were  the  constant  and  successful 
resorts  of  Island  fishermen.  Their  boats  returned,  loaded  to  the  water's 
edge.  The  New  England  coast  was  their  route  of  travel  and  a  Block 
Island  pilot  on  board  a  foreign  ship  was  a  sure  passport  to  safe  anchor- 
age. 

Men  were  made  brave  in  storm  and  tempest,  women  found  courage 
in  home-keeping,  with  husbands  and  sons  facing  sea  perils.  Children 
were  born  on  the  ocean  wave.  They  must  swim  or  drown,  and  swim 
they  must.  Many  a  Block  Island  boy  has  started  out  on  an  island  dory 
at  ten,  and  at  eighteen  found  himself  in  command  of  a  full  rigged  ship. 
Eight  years  from  forecastle  to  the  quarter  deck  was  a  greater  acquisition 
than  a  college  diploma.  The  roll  of  honor  of  Block  Island-born  men  in 
merchant  and  naval  service  would  surpass  that  of  any  community  of  its 
size  on  the  Continent.  Prior  to  the  Revolution  our  privateer  service  was 
largely  manned  by  Block  Island  boys,  and  when  the  American  navy  was 
fitted  out  the  same  boys  were  ready  for  most  efficient  work.  The  singular 
situation  of  Block  Island,  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  any  other  Amer- 
ican town,  during  the  Revolution  compelled  her  to  a  position  of  self- 
defence,  but  through  all  that  trying  period,  exposed  as  she  was  to  the 
perils  from  British  ships,  and  neglected  by  the  Colony,  the  Islanders  bore 
a  loyal  spirit,  a  most  honorable  part  in  assisting  the  Colony  of  which  she 
was  an  integral  part,  although  she  had  been  left  to  take  care  of  herself. 
Block  Island  has  never  been  recognized  or  honored  as  she  richly  deserved 
for  her  attitude  during  that  long  struggle.  Her  later  history,  in  harmony 
with  the  earlier,  discloses  a  people  devoting  themselves  with  equal  con- 
stancy and  industry  to  the  land  as  well  as  to  the  sea.  From  the  first  the 
Islanders  have  been  well-to-do  people — in  a  true  sense  a  wealthy  people. 
Comfortable  homes,  well  filled  tables,  suitable  dress,  little  or  no  poverty 
or  crime  here  marked  the  community  as  prosperous  and  happy.  Long  life, 
large  Puritan  families,  social  order,  a  fair  education  and  a  thorough-going 
regard  for  moral  and  religious  living  have  characterized  the  people  from 
1661  to  1919. 

New  Shoreham,  the  town  name  of  Block  Island,  is  now  one  of  the 
most  noted  summer  resorts  in  our  Eastern  Coast.  Large  and  well  con- 
ducted hotels,  in  great  numbers  stand  in  friendly  neighborhood  on  eastern 
hill  and  harbor  slopes  of  the  Island,  while  private  villas  are  located  on 
the  sea-commanding  bluffs. 


528 


HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 


The  population  of  the  Island  in  1708  was  208;  in  1810  it  was  722;  in 
i860,  1320;  and  in  1915  was  1414.  The  valuation  of  the  real  and  personal 
estates  was  $1,071,350. 

The  local  history  of  Block  Island  truthfully  written,  would  present 
an  interesting  study.  The  traditionary  history  of  the  aborigines  is  full  of 
the  romance  of  war.  Their  authentic  history  in  connection  with  the  whites 
abounds  in  stirring  incidents ;  the  peculiarities  of  the  English  settlers  and 
their  posterity,  their  customs,  laws  and  domestic  institutions,  are  among 
the  most  singular  and  interesting  developments  of  civilized  life;  while  the 
material  deeds  of  a  people,  within  and  around  whose  island  home  there 
has  been  more  hard  fighting  than  on  any  territory  of  equal  extension  per- 
haps in  America,  and  where  the  horrors  of  savage  and  civilized  warfare 
have  alternately  prevailed,  almost  without  cessation  from  the  earliest 
traditionary  period  down  to  a  recent  date,  would  altogether,  furnish 
materials  for  a  thrilling  history  that  might  rival  the  pages  of  romance. — 
Samuel  Greene  Arnold,  1858. 


^^ 

T^m^^ 

W^ 

CHAPTER  XXIX 


THE  QUAKERS  IN  RHODE  ISLAND 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 
THE  QUAKERS  IN  RHODE  ISLAND. 

On  the  third  of  August,  1657,  a  small  ship — The  Woodhouse — en- 
tered Newport  harbor,  bringing  six  Quaker  passengers.  She  was  the  first 
vessel  built  by  Quakers,  manned  by  Quakers  for  the  sole  benefit  of 
Quaker  passengers  that  came  to  New  England,  and  may  be  truly  styled 
the  Quaker  Mayflower.  She  brought  the  original  "Apostles"  of  Quaker- 
ism to  our  shores  from  old  England,  and  in  doing  it  made  the  Colony  of 
Rhode  Island  on  Aquidneck  the  pioneer  settlement  of  the  disciples  of 
George  Fox. 

The  occasion  of  this  historic  event  as  related  to  the  .'\quidneck  Col- 
ony is  of  special  interest,  in  its  illustration  of  the  attitude  of  the  Bay 
Colony  towards  Quakers  as  well  as  the  liberal  policy  of  the  Rhode  Island 
Colony  on  Aquidneck  in  its  full  freedom  as  to  spiritual  concernments. 
Special  emphasis  is  laid  upon  the  fact  of  the  Quaker  landing  on  Aquid- 
neck in  the  Rhode  Island  Colony.  Mr.  Williams  strenuously  opposed  the 
Quakers  and  would  not  have  welcomed  them  to  Providence  Plantations, 
his  settlement  at  the  north  end  of  the  Bay.  His  action  on  the  Quakers 
will  be  related  later.  The  first  Quakers  to  land  on  American  soil  were 
two  women, — Mary  Fisher  and  Ann  Austin, — who,  coming  from  England 
by  way  of  Barbados,  landed  in  the  town  of  Bo.ston,  July  li,  1656,  to  the 
great  consternation  of  the  Puritan  town.  George  Bishop  told  the  General 
Court  in  1660,  "Two  poor  women  arriving  in  your  harbor,  so  shook  ye, 
to  the  everlasting  shame  of  you,  and  of  your  established  peace  and  order, 
as  if  a  formidable  army  had  invaded  your  borders."  Mary  Fisher  was 
then  about  twenty-two  years  old,  unmarried,  possessed  of  uncommon 
"intellectual  faculties"  and  of  "gravity  of  deportment."  Ann  Austin  was 
the  mother  of  five  children.  Both  had  been  disciples  of  George  Fox  and 
preachers  of  Quaker  beliefs  since  1652.  On  their  arrival  in  the  ship 
Swallozv,  Governor  Endicott,  the  arch  persecutor  of  "heretics"  was  not 
in  town  and  Deputy  Governor  Richard  Bellingham,  equal  to  the  occasion, 
ordered  the  women  to  be  kept  on  the  ship  while  search  was  made  for  books 
containing  "corrupt  heretical  and  blasphemous  doctrines."  One  hundred 
such  books  were  found,  seized  and  burned  in  the  market  place  by  the 
town  hangman.  Thus  did  literary  Boston  treat  the  first  shipment  of 
Quaker  literature  that  came  into  its  harbor.  The  two  women,  owners  of 
the  books,  were  brought  to  land,  put  in  jail,  "stripped  stark  naked"  and 
searched  for  "tokens"  of  witchcraft  on  their  bodies.  A  fine  of  five  pounds 
was  laid  upon  anyone  who  should  speak  with  them.    One  Nicholas  Upsall, 


532  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

of  Dorchester,  Massachusetts,  offered  to  pay  the  fine  and  later  was  fined 
twenty  pounds  for  speaking  against  the  law  and  of  reproaching  the  magis- 
trates in  their  treatment  of  the  Quakers.  After  an  imprisonment  of  five 
weeks,  the  master  of  the  SivalloK'  was  obliged  to  return  the  two  women 
to  Barbados,  at  his  own  expense,  and  the  Boston  jailer  had  to  content 
himself  with  the  bedding  and  Bibles  for  his  fees. 

In  October,  1656,  the  General  Court  of  the  Bay  enacted  the  most 
notable  law  ever  written  on  its  statutes.  The  preamble  is  a  terrific  indict- 
ment of  the  Quakers : 

Whereas,  There  is  a  cursed  set  of  heretics  lately  risen  up  in  the 
world,  which  are  commonly  called  Quakers,  who  take  upon  them  to  be 
imediatlie  sent  of  God,  &  infallibly  assisted  by  the  Spiritt  of  God  to 
speake  &  write  blasphemous  opinions,  despising  government  &  the  order 
of  God  in  the  churches  &  Commonwealth,  speaking  evill  of  dignities,  re- 
proaching and  reviling  magistrates  &  ministers,  seekinge  to  turne  the  peo- 
ple from  the  fayth,  &  gaine  proselites  to  their  pernitious  wayes. 

It  was  ordered  that  a  fine  of  one  hundred  pounds  should  be  exacted 
of  any  shipmaster  bringing  a  Quaker  or  Quakers  into  any  port  in  the 
Colony,  and  if  brought  in  to  carry  them  back  to  the  place  whence  they 
came.  Any  Quaker  entering  the  Colony  should  be  put  in  the  house  of 
correction,  publicly  whipped,  kept  at  hard  work,  and  not  allowed  to  speak 
to  any  one  before  banishment.  Any  person  adopting  the  heretical  doc- 
trines of  the  Quakers  was  a  subject  for  banishment.  Thus  did  the  Bay 
Colony  close  its  doors  to  the  admission  of  the  Quakers.  But,  fortunately 
a  wide  door  was  opened  in  Southern  New  England  through  which  the 
disciples  of  George  Fox  could  enter  and  from  the  vantage  ground  of  a 
central  station  penetrate  the  several  adjacent  Colonies. 

The  story  of  the  Woodhouse  is  finely  told  by  Rufus  M.  Jones  in  "The 
Quakers  in  the  American  Colonies."  Eleven  Quakers  came  as  passengers 
on  the  little  ship,  "men  counted  naught."  As  they  were  the  founders  of 
the  Quaker  faith  in  America  their  names  should  be  held  in  remembrance. 
They  were  Christopher  Holder,  John  Copeland,  William  Brend,  William 
Robinson,  Humphrey  Norton,  Mary  Clark,  Robert  Hodgson,  Richard 
Doudney,  Sarah  Gibbons,  Mary  Weatherhead  and  Dorothy  Waugh.  The 
last  five  named  persons  landed  at  New  Amsterdam  (New  York).  Tlie 
first  six  landed  at  Newport  for  mission  work  in  the  Bay  Colony.  The 
log  of  the  Woodhouse  records  that  "the  Lord  led  their  ship  as  a  man 
leads  a  horse  by  the  head,"  and  "He  steered  their  vessel  as  He  did  Noah's 
Ark  to  the  hill  Ararat." 

Aquidneck  was  a  fortunate  landing  place  for  people  of  the  Quaker 
faith.  Ann  Hutchinson,  a  pre-Quakeress,  had  taught  that  the  human  soul 
was  illumined  by  a  divine  light;  that  the  soul  of  man  and  the  heart  of 


THE  QUAKERS  IN  RHODE  ISLAND  533 

God  were  in  close  fellowship  and  spiritual  communion;  that  "the  wisdom 
of  the  infinite  God  is  within  reach  of  the  feeblest  human  spirit ;  the  will  of 
the  Eternal  is  voiced  in  the  soul  of  every  man  ;  it  is  life  to  hear  and  obey; 
it  is  death  to  follow  other  voices."  "By  the  z'oice  of  His  own  spirit  in 
my  soul,"  were  the  inspired  words  of  Mrs.  Hutchinson,  which  won  for 
her  the  honor  of  banishment  from  the  Bay  and  the  greater  honor  of  being 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  Colony  of  spiritual  freemen  on  Aquidneck, 
in  1638.  Death  had  closed  her  mortal  career  and  she  had  taken  her  place 
with  the  immortals, — the  seers  of  a  new  life, — otherwise  she  would  have 
stood  on  the  new  Rock  of  Freedom  at  Newport  to  have  welcomed  the 
little  Quaker  band, — the  Apostles  of  a  New  Faith.  But  Judge  and  later 
Governor  William  Coddington,  Nicholas  Easton,  John  Coggeshall,  and 
Walter  Clarke,  son  of  Gov.  Jeremiah  Clarke  did  extend  the  warm  hand 
to  Holden  and  his  com])anions,  accepted  the  Quaker  doctrine  as  soon  as 
they  heard  it  and  at  once  became  pillars  in  the  first  Quaker  meeting  in 
America.  Worthy  and  lasting  honors  belong  to  the  Pilgrim  founders  at 
Plymouth  for  laying  strong  and  deep  the  foundations  of  the  democratic 
American  state,  but  look  around  you,  and  state  if  you  can  where  the  spirit 
of  soul  freedom  and  the  spirit  of  democracy  ever  met  in  more  perfect 
union,  than  at  Newport  in  the  Colony  of  Rhode  Island,  August  3,  1657. 

Rev.  John  Callender  in  his  Century  Sermon,  1736,  says:  "In  1657, 
some  of  the  people  called  Quakers,  came  to  this  Colony  and  Island ;  and 
being  persecuted  and  abused  in  other  Colonies,  that,  together  with  the 
opinions  and  circumstances  here,  gave  them  a  large  harvest.  Many,  and 
some  of  the  Baptists  (of  whom  Mr.  Callender  was  minister)  embraced 
their  doctrines  and  particular  opinions,  to  which  many  of  the  posterity 
and  others  still  adhere."  Peterson  writes :  "Many  of  the  principal  inhab- 
itants embraced  their  doctrines,  (Quaker),  among  whom  were  William 
Coddington,  Nicholas  Easton,  Philip  Sherman,  Adam  Mott  and  many 
others."  Mary  Dyer,  of  Newport,  wife  of  William  Dyer,  had  just  re- 
turned from  England,  where  she  had  become  a  convert  to  the  Quaker  faith 
and  a  minister  to  teach  it.  In  1661,  four  years  after  the  landing  at  New- 
port, an  Annual  Meeting  was  held  on  A(|uidneck  Island,  to  which  the 
Friends,  scattered  throughout  New  England,  gathered  and  "The  Yearly 
Meeting  of  Friends  in  New  England"  has  had  a  continuous  history  to 
the  present  day. 

The  Yearly  Meeting  of  Quakers  was  established  for  its  influence  in 
the  formation  of  "group  consciousness  and  of  social  ideals."  At  first  it  was 
a  large  General  Meeting  for  worship  and  preaching  and  for  an  impressive 
massing  of  the  Quaker  members.  The  first  in  America,  held  in  1661,  was 
called  at  the  suggestion  of  an  English  Quaker,  named  George  Rofe.  who 
was  at  that  time  on  a  mission  to  America.    He  says  of  it :  "We  came  in  at 


534  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

Rhode  Island  and  we  appointed  a  General  Meeting  for  all  Friends  in  those 
parts,  which  was  a  very  great  meeting  and  very  precious,  continuing  four 
days."  The  meeting  at  Newport  was  so  large  that  the  Boston  officials 
made  an  alarm  that  the  Quakers  were  gathering  to  kill  the  people  and 
fire  the  town  of  Boston.  From  Piscataqua  on  the  east  to  Long  Island  on 
the  west  the  Quakers  gathered  for  the  annual  meeting  and  it  soon  gradu- 
ally united  in  one  at  Newport  all  the  others  in  New  England. 

The  warm  welcome  given  the  Quaker  missionaries  by  the  Aquidneck 
settlers  and  the  establishment  at  Newport  of  headquarters  in  New  Eng- 
land alarmed  the  Bay  Colony.  The  Colony  of  Rhode  Island  had  been 
refused  admission  to  the  union  of  the  New  England  Colonies,  but  now, 
in  danger  of  an  invasion  of  a  dangerous,  heretical  sect,  they  united  in 
a  letter  to  Governor  Benedict  Arnold  of  Newport,  under  date  of  Septem- 
ber 12,  1657.  The  letter,  written  by  Gov.  Simon  Bradstreet  of  Boston, 
relates  that  the  Commissioners  of  the  Colonies  have  been  "informed  that 
divers  Quakers  are  arrived  this  summer  at  Rode  Island  and  entertained 
there,  which  may  prove  dangerous  to  the  Collonies."  He  also  relates : 
"We  suppose  you  have  understood  that  the  last  yeare  a  companie  of 
Quakers  arived  at  Boston  upon  noe  other  account  than  to  disperse  their 
pernicious  opinons  had  they  not  been  prevented  by  the  prudent  care  of 
that  Government,  whoe  by  that  experience  they  had  of  them,  being  sen- 
cable  of  the  danger  that  might  befale  the  Giristian  religion  heer  professed 
by  suffering  such  to  bee  received  or  continued  in  the  country."  After 
further  discussion  of  the  character  of  the  accursed  sect  of  ranters  and 
"theire  accursed  tenates,"  the  urgent  request  is  made  that  "you  remove 
those  Quakers  that  have  been  receaved,  and  for  the  future  prohibite  theire 
coming  amongst  you." 

President  Arnold  replies  a  month  later,  for  the  Court  of  Trials,  then 
in  session  at  Providence.  He  wrote :  "There  hath  come  to  our  view  * 
*  *  a  request  concerning  certayne  people  called  Quakers,  come  amongst 
us  lately.  Our  desires  are,  in  all  things  possible,  to  pursue  after  and  keepe 
fayre  and  loveing  correspondence  and  intercourse  with  all  the  Collonys, 
and  with  all  our  countreymen  in  New  England.  *  *  *  And  to  have 
made  seasonable  provision  to  preserve  a  just  and  equal  intercourse  be- 
tween the  Coloneys  and  us,  by  giving  justice  to  any  that  demand  it  among 
us,  and  by  returning  such  as  make  escape  from  you  or  from  the  other 
Colonys,  being  such  as  fly  from  the  hands  of  Justice,  for  matters  of 
crime  done  or  committed  amongst  you,  &c.  And  as  concerning  these 
Quakers  (so  called),  which  are  now  among  us,  we  have  no  law  among 
us,  whereby  to  punish  any  for  only  declaring  by  words,  &c.  their  mindes 
and  understandings  concerning  the  things  and  ways  of  God,  as  to  salva- 
tion and  an  eternal  condition.     *     *     *     Surely  we  find  that  they  delight 


THE  QUAKERS  IN  RHODE  ISLAND  535 

to  be  persecuted  by  civill  powers,  and  when  they  are  so,  they  are  like  to 
gain  more  adherents  by  the  conseyte  of  their  patient  sufferings,  than  by 
consent  to  their  pernicious  sayings.  And  yet  we  conceive,  that  theire 
doctrines  tend  to  very  absolute  cutting  downe  and  overturninge  relations 
and  civill  government  among  men  if  generally  received.  But  as  to  the 
dammage  that  may  in  likelyhood  accrue  to  the  neighbour  Colloneys  by 
theire  being  here  entertained,  we  conceive  it  will  not  prove  so  dangerous 
in  regard  of  the  course  taken  by  you  to  send  them  away  out  of  the  coun- 
trey,  as  they  come  among  you." 

This  letter  was  signed  by  Benedict  Arnold  and  William  Baulston  of 
Newport,  Randall  Holden  of  Warwick  and  Arthur  Fenner  and  William 
Field  of  Providence,  and  is  an  admirable  illustration  of  courteous  diplo- 
macy, somewhat  infrequent  in  those  trying  days  of  Colonial  history,  and 
sets  forth  in  a  wondrously  clear  light  the  Rhode  Island  ])rinciple  of  soul 
liberty  vs.  "a  distressed  conscience,"  and  the  i)hilosophic  and  statesman- 
like attitude  of  the  men  who  stood  at  the  head  of  civil  affairs  in  the 
Rhode  Island  Colony. 

In  March,  1658,  five  months  later,  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Col- 
ony, in  session  at  Portsmouth,  sent  a  re]:ly  to  the  Commissioners  concern- 
ing the  Quakers.  In  it  the  members  state  that  "freedom  of  different  con- 
sciences, to  be  protected  from  inforcements  was  the  principal  ground  of 
our  Charier  *  *  *  which  freedom  we  still  prize  as  the  greatest 
hapines  that  men  can  posess  in  this  world."  They  say  that  Quakers  are 
suffered  to  live  in  England,  "yea  in  the  very  heart  of  the  nation  (Lon- 
don)," and  they  see  no  reason  why  they  may  not  be  allowed  to  live  in  a 
Colony  of  England  if  they  obey  the  English  and  Colonial  laws.  In  case 
of  refusal,  the  General  .\ssembly  will  take  the  matter  unto  the  supreme 
authority  of  England  for  advice  and  direction.  They  take  this  course  that 
there  may  be  "noe  damadge  or  infringement  of  that  chiefe  principle  in 
our  charter  concerninge  freedom  of  consciences  and  we  alsoe  are  soe 
much  the  more  incouradged  to  make  our  addresses  unto  the  Lord  Pro- 
tector (Cromwell),  his  highness  and  protector."  Here  we  see  illustrated 
the  devotion  of  the  law  making  body  of  the  Colony  to  the  principles  of 
the  founders,  their  loyahy  to  the  English  Commonwealth  and  the  most 
conservative  and  surest  method  of  dealing  with  troublesome  Colonial  af- 
fairs, quite  in  contrast  with  the  persecuting  and  tyrannical  spirit  and 
action  of  the  Plymouth  and  Bay  Colonies.  In  this  connection  it  may  be 
stated  that  the  Quakers  were  not  made  welcome  in  any  of  the  New  Eng- 
land Colonies  except  in  Rhode  Island,  at  Newport  and  Portsmouth.  It 
is  well  known  that  Mr.  Williams  opposed  the  Quaker  doctrines  with  his 
usual  vehement  zeal  and  would  probably  have  used  his  influence  in  pre- 
venting their  coming  to  Providence,  at  Least  on  the  same  grounds  as  the 


536  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

refusal  of  citizenship  to  Samuel  Gorton.  While  Plymouth  Colony  had 
no  religious  tests  for  citizenship,  it  must  be  said  that  the  conservative 
element,  led  by  Governor  Prince,  constantly  opposed  a  liberal  policy  in 
Colonial  affairs  and  passed  stringent  laws  with  reference  to  Quakers. 
The  anti-Quaker  code  included  apprehension,  whipping,  putting  in  stocks 
or  cages,  disfranchisement,  imprisonment,  the  destruction  of  books,  seiz- 
ing of  horses,  penalties  for  attending  Quaker  meetings,  detention  in 
houses  of  correction  and  banishment.  To  the  credit  of  that  Colony  it 
must  be  stated  that,  in  the  execution  of  these  laws,  great  leniency  was 
exercised  during  the  persecuting  period  which  was  terminated  in  1662, 
by  order  of  King  Charles  the  Second. 

Newport  on  Aquidneck  was  the  landing  place  of  the  first  Quaker 
ship,  the  City  of  Refuge,  and  headquarters  of  the  Quaker  missionaries 
from  England  Here,  on  Rhode  Island,  where  John  Clarke  and  his  asso- 
ciates, exiled  from  Boston  in  1638,  had  planted  the  first  towns  and  colony 
devoted  to  full  perfect  religious  freedom  in  a  democracy,  the  Quakers 
wrought  their  first  and  finest  spiritual  work  and  saw  the  first  fruits  of  a 
harvest.  Mr.  Jones  well  says,  "They  were  resolved  to  be  free  themselves 
and  to  set  other  men's  souls  free  from  all  ecclesiastical  tyranny."  The 
leaders  in  the  Newport  group  of  converts  to  the  new  faith  were  Codding- 
ton,  Coggeshall,  Easton,  the  Clarkes,  Hutchinsons,  Dyers  and  Bulls.  Gov- 
ernor Coddington's  house  was  the  social  and  religious  meeting  place  of 
the  Quakers,  and  the  Governor  was  the  chief  of  the  group,  as  he  had  been 
the  chief  of  the  first  settlers  of  Boston  in  1630,  as  he  says,  "I  was  en- 
trusted in  the  first  settling  (of  Boston),  even  before  Boston  was  named 
or  any  house  therein,  and  I  builded  the  first  good  house,  in  which  the 
Governour  now  lives." 

While  five  of  the  Quaker  apostles  of  The  Woodhouse  were  engaged 
in  mission  work  at  Aquidneck  and  in  the  Plymouth  and  Bay  colonies,  the 
sixth,  William  Brend,  went  to  Providence  to  proclaim  the  truths  of  the 
new  sect.  The  diverse  opinions  of  the  Providence  settlers  attracted  the 
brave  pioneers  hither.  Among  the  first  converts  to  the  truth  at  Provi- 
dence was  Catherine  (Marbury)  Scott,  wife  of  Richard  Scott  and  sister 
of  Anne  Hutchinson.  Governor  Winthrop  wrote  of  her:  "At  Provi- 
dence things  grew  still  worse,  for  a  sister  of  Mrs.  Hutchinson,  the  wife  of 
one  Scott,  being  affected  with  Anabaptistry  and  going  to  live  at  Provi- 
dence, Mr.  Williams  was  taken  (or  rather  emboldened)  by  her  to  make 
open  profession  thereof."  It  is  just  to  state  that  the  term  Anabaptist  was 
often  applied  to  Quakers,  Seekers,  or  any  religionists  other  than  the  Puri- 
tan church  of  the  Bay.  Richard  Scott  was  one  of  the  twelve  men  who 
formed  the  first  church  at  Providence,  founded  by  Ezekiel  HoUiman.  Mr. 
Scott  afterwards  withdrew  from  the  Baptist  church  and  with  his  wife 
became  the  first  converts  to  the  Quakers.    Mrs.  Scott  was  the  mother  of 


THE  QUAKERS  IN  RHODE  ISLAND  537 

six  children,  four  daughters  and  two  sons.  Two  daughters  married 
Quakers — Mary  married  Christopher  Holder,  and  Hannah  married  Wal- 
ter Clarke,  of  Newport,  February,  1667.  Mr.  Holder  was  one  of  the 
passengers  on  The  IVoodhousf  and  went  directly  to  Salem,  where  he 
preached  first  in  private  and  then  "prophesied,"  after  the  sermon  in  the 
home  meeting  of  Governor  Endicott.  He  was  not  allowed  to  proceed,  his 
mouth  stuffed  with  a  glove  and  handkerchief,  was  taken  to  Boston  on 
Monday,  received  thirty  stripes  on  his  bare  back  with  a  three-cord  knotted 
whip,  put  in  a  bare  cell,  with  no  bedding,  kept  three  days  and  three  nights 
without  food  or  drink  and  was  kept  in  prison  nine  weeks  in  the  winter 
without  a  fire.  By  special  order  of  Governor  Endicott  he  was  publicly 
whipped  each  week  until  freed,  receiving  about  one  hundred  and  eighty 
lashes.  In  addition  to  all  these  brutalities,  the  sheriff  cut  off  his  right  ear, 
carrj'ing  through  life  this  plain  evidence  of  torture  and  persecution. 

Mrs,  Scott  was  at  Boston  on  September  16,  1658,  and  witnessed  the 
cruel  mutilation  of  her  future  son-in-law,  Christopher  Holder.  An  eye- 
witness wrote: 

Mrs.  Scott,  a  mother  of  many  children,  one  that  had  lived  with  her 
husband  of  unblamable  conversation,  a  grave,  sober,  ancient  woman,  and 
of  good  breeding  as  to  the  outward,  as  men  account,  protested  in  these 
words,  "That  it  was  evident  they  were  going  to  act  the  works  of  darkness, 
or  else  they  would  have  brought  them  forth  publicly  and  have  declared 
their  offences,  that  all  may  hear  and  fear."  For  this  utterance  Mrs.  Scott 
was  committed  to  prison  and  they  gave  her  ten  cruel  stripes  with  a  three- 
fold corded  knotted  whip  shortly  after  though  ye  confessed  when  ye  had 
her  before  you,  that  for  ought  ye  knew,  she  had  been  of  an  unblamable 
character,  and  though  some  of  you  knew  her  father  and  called  him  Mr. 
Marburj'  and  that  she  had  been  well  bred  (as  among  men,  and  had  so 
lived),  and  that  she  was  the  mother  of  many  children:  yet  ye  whipped 
her  for  all  that,  and  moreover  told  her  that  ye  were  likely  to  have  a  law 
to  hang  her  if  she  came  thither  again,  to  which  she  answered,  "If  God 
calls  us  woe  be  to  us  if  we  come  not,  and  I  question  not  but  he  whom  we 
love  will  make  us  not  to  count  our  lives  dear  unto  ourselves  for  the  sake 
of  his  name."  To  which  your  Governor  John  Endicott  replied :  "And 
we  shall  be  as  ready  to  take  away  your  lives  as  ye  shall  be  to  lay  them 
down." 

Patience  Scott,  a  girl  about  eleven  years  old,  daughter  of  Catherine 
Scott,  going  to  Boston  as  a  witness  against  the  persecution  of  Quakers, 
was  sent  to  prison,  others  older  being  banished.  One  of  the  court  officers 
remarked:  "Some  of  ye  confest  that  ye  had  many  children,  and  that  they 
had  been  well  educated,  and  that  it  were  well  if  they  could  say  half  as 
much  for  God  as  she  (Patience)  could  for  the  Devil."  A  short  time  after, 
Mary  Scott  went  to  visit  Christopher  Holder  in  prison  and  was  herself 
seized  and  kept  in  prison  at  Boston  a  month.  She  was  married  to  Mr. 
Holder,  August  12,  1660,  and  died  in  1665.    He  died  in  1688,  leaving  two 


538  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

daughters.  The  Scotts  of  Northern  Rhode  Island  are  descended  from 
Richard  and  he  from  the  noted  Scotts  of  Scotland. 

The  Quaker  faith  had  made  so  great  triumphs  in  the  American  colo- 
nies that  George  Fox,  the  founder,  decided  to  visit  the  Friends  scattered 
along  the  Atlantic  Coast  in  1671,  and  here  we  will  note  some  of  the  lead- 
ing facts  as  to  this  great  religious  leader. 

George  Fox  was  born  in  Drayton,  England,  in  1624,  and  died  in  Lon- 
don, in  1691.  His  father  was  a  zealous  Presbyterian,  poor  and  unable  to 
give  his  son  an  education  beyond  reading  and  writing.  The  boy  was 
grave,  fond  of  solitude  and  contemplation,  meditating  upon  the  teachings 
of  the  Bible.  At  the  age  of  nineteen  he  gave  up  the  work  of  shoemaking, 
to  which  he  was  an  apprentice,  and  led  a  wandering  life  alone  in  the  woods 
and  in  solitary  places,  practicing  a  rigid  self-denial.  In  1648  he  made 
his  first  appearance  as  a  preacher  at  Manchester.  England.  His  peculiar 
views  led  to  his  imprisonment.  These  views  involved  a  fresh  "experi- 
ment in  spiritual  religion."  The  principle  Fox  claimed  to  have  discovered 
was  "the  presence  of  a  Divine  Light  in  man,  a  radiance  from  the  Central 
Light  of  the  spiritual  universe,  penetrating  the  deeps  of  every  soul,  which 
if  responded  to,  obeyed,  and  accepted  as  a  guiding  star,  would  lead  into  all 
truth  and  into  all  kinds  of  truth."  All  the  distinctive  activities  of  the 
Friends,  all  their  mental  and  spiritual  ideals  and  practices  sprang  from 
this  germinal  principle.  It  is  evident  that  the  clearest  evidence  and  the 
fullest  defence  of  soul  liberty  proceeds  from  this  principle — soul  liberty 
based  on  a  new,  constant  and  continuous  revelation  of  The  Divine  to  man. 
Only  a  divinely  human  soul  could  discover  fully  and  enunciate  boldly  so 
sublime  a  truth,  seen  by  the  seers  of  the  seventeenth  century,  "as  through 
a  glass  darkly,"  but  by  George  Fox,  "face  to  face."  Rev.  Ward,  of  Ips- 
wich, called  "liberty  of  conscience"  a  doctrine  which  to  accept  required 
"That  the  brains  should  be  parboiled  in  impious  ignorance."  Even  Rev. 
John  Callender,  writing  of  the  freedom  established  in  1638  in  the  little 
colony  on  the  island  of  Rhode  Island,  says : 

In  reality  the  true  Grounds  of  Liberty  of  Conscience  were  not  then 
( 1637)  known,  or  embraced  by  any  Sect  or  Party  of  Christians  ;  all  parties 
seemed  to  think  that  as  they  only  were  in  possession  of  the  truth  so  they 
alone  had  a  right  to  restrain  and  crush  all  other  opinions,  which  they 
respectively  called  Error  and  Heresy,  where  they  were  the  most  numerous 
and  powerful. 

George  Fox  visited  America  to  inspire  his  followers  to  teach  novices 
the  Truth  as  seen  by  Friends  and  to  be  inspired  by  the  converts  already 
made  and  the  bright  prospects  of  a  greater  harvest  of  souls.  The  Quaker 
embassy  left  England,  August  12,  1671,  visiting  Barbados,  Jamaica  and 
Maryland  on  his  way  to  Newport,  where  he  arrived  May  30,  1672.  Fox 
was  entertained  by  Governor  Nicholas  Easton,  who  travelled  with  him 


THE  QUAKERS  IN  RHODE  ISLAND  539 

extensively.  At  the  memorable  yearly  meeting  of  1672,  Fox,  Burnyeat, 
Cartwright,  Stubbs,  Lancaster  and  other  eminent  ministers  of  the  Friends 
were  participants.  Governor  Fasten  and  Deputy  Governor,  Captain  John 
Cranston,  sat  in  the  sessions  and  a  great  company  of  I'riends  joined  from 
neighboring  colonies,  who  were  so  united  that  it  required  two  days  for 
leave  after  the  meetings  were  over.  Fox  had  no  sympathy  with  Ranters, 
who  abounded  in  many  of  the  colonies,  and  he  relates  that  the  Lord  gave 
him  power  over  them. 

While  at  Newport,  Fox  wrote  to  the  officers  and  magistrates  of  the 
Colony  relative  to  their  social,  civil  and  religious  affairs.  He  declared 
that  the  law  of  God  is  consciously  in  every  man,  revealing  the  principles 
of  conduct  and  brotherhood.  He  recommends  the  General  Assembly  to 
pass  "a  law  against  drunkenness  and  against  them  that  sell  liquors  to  make 
people  drunk."  and  also  "a  law  against  fighting  and  swearing."  This  is 
one  of  the  first  proposals  ever  made  in  America  to  put  an  end  to  the  li((uor 
traffic.  He  advised  '"that  you  have  a  market  (public)  once  a  week  in 
your  town  and  a  house  built  for  that  purpose ;"  "that  some  be  selected  in 
every  town  and  place  in  all  your  Colony  to  receive  and  record  all  your 
births,  marriages  and  them  that  die."  He  urges  them  to  "look  into  all  your 
ancient  liberties  and  privileges — your  divine  liberty,  your  national  liberty, 
and  all  your  outward  liberties  which  belong  to  your  commons,  your  town 
and  your  island  Colony."  "Mind  that  which  is  for  the  good  of  your 
Colony  and  the  Commonwealth  of  all  people — stand  for  the  good  of  your 
people  which  is  the  good  of  yourselves."  "Stand  up  for  the  glory  of  God, 
that  it  may  shine  over  your  Colony,  and  set  up  justice  over  all  your 
Colony,"  "and  stand  fast  in  the  liberty,  wherewith  Christ  hath  made  you 
free  in  life,  glory  and  power."  The  letter  reveals  Fox  as  a  man,  in  whom 
were  united  a  fine  spiritual  nature  with  a  bold  conception  of  the  civil  state 
and  the  incorporation  of  the  practical  affairs  of  human  life  with  civic 
justice,  morality  and  progress.  The  visit  of  George  Fox  was  a  blessing 
and  a  revelation  to  the  Colony  of  Rhode  Island. 

Fox  in  the  company  of  Governor  Easton  and  other  Friends  visited 
Providence,  where  "God's  blessed  seed  was  exalted  and  set  above  all." 
He  writes:  "I  had  a  lardge  meeting  and  a  great  travell."  "The  people 
here  were  above  the  priests  in  high  notions,"  but  "they  went  away  mightyly 
satisfyed,  and  said  they  had  never  heard  the  like  before."  A  second  meet- 
ing was  held  in  "a  greate  barne  which  was  soe  full  of  people,  yt  I  was 
extremely  soaked  with  sweat,  but  all  was  well."  As  Fox  does  not  men- 
tion Roger  Williams,  it  is  quite  probable  he  did  not  attend  these  meetings, 
but  as  he  had  announced  himself  a  "Seeker,"  it  seems  quite  inexplicable, 
if  he  did  not.  In  his  book,  "George  Fox  Digged  out  of  his  Rurrowes," 
Mr.  Williams  writes  that  he  had  "long  heard  of  the  great  name  of  George 
Fox"  and  had  read  his  book,  "The  Great  Mystery  of  The  Great  Whore." 


540  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

Fox  spent  two  months  in  Rhode  Island,  during  which  he  had  planted 
Quakerism  in  the  Narragansett  country,  across  the  Bay  from  Newport. 
The  progress  of  the  new  Faith  stirred  Mr.  Williams  to  the  depths  of  his 
soul.  As  a  "Seeker"  himself  and  a  friend  of  the  persecuted,  who  wel- 
comed all  classes  and  conditions  to  Providence,  especially  "the  poor  and 
distressed  in  conscience,"  it  would  seem  a  most  natural  and  reasonable 
course  for  Mr.  Williams  to  extend  the  glad  hand  to  the  Quakers.  Though 
hard  to  understand,  it  is  nevertheless  true  that  Roger  Williams,  who 
claimed  the  largest  freedom  for  himself  in  religious  matters,  was  quite 
unwilling  to  tolerate  the  "Inward  Light"  of  the  Quaker  Faith.  In  fact  he 
was  stirred  powerfully  in  opposition  by  the  meetings  and  preaching  of 
Fox  and  his  followers  and  set  himself  to  the  task  of  silencing  the  preachers 
of  the  new  "Principle."  To  that  end  he  launched  his  whole  vocabulary  of 
contemptuous  epithets  against  the  Quakers  and  their  faith.  He  called 
them  "Pragmatical  and  Insulting  Souls,"  "Bundles  of  Ignorance  and 
Boisterousness,"  "with  a  face  of  brass  and  a  tongue  set  on  fire  from  the 
Hell  of  Lyes  and  Fury."  Stronger  evidence  of  Mr.  Williams'  polemic 
character  and  spirit  appears  in  the  statement  that  he  would  "press  the 
Quakers"  if  he  could,  meaning  by  the  phrase  that  he  was  in  sympathy 
with  the  treatment  they  were  receiving  and  had  received  in  the  Bay 
Colony.  In  his  book,  entitled  "George  Fox  Digged  out  of  his  Burrowes," 
Mr.  Williams  expends  all  the  fiery  invective  of  his  nature  and  of  "sharp 
scripture  langauge"  against  the  hated  sect.  Even  Mr.  Straus  admits  that 
the  book  "is  characterized  by  bitter  and  even  discourteous  language," 
although  he  claims  it  was  in  defence  of  "soul  liberty," — possibly  he  means 
the  soul  liberty  of  Roger  Williams. 

After  George  Fox  had  left  Newport,  Mr.  Williams  sent  a  challenge 
to  Fox  to  meet  him  in  debate,  and  drew  up  fourteen  propositions  as  the 
basis  of  the  discussion.  These  propositions  illustrate,  in  a  most  complete 
and  unqualified  manner,  Mr.  Williams'  life  attitude  towards  the  freedom 
involved  in  the  doctrine  of  Soul  Liberty : 

I.     The  People  called  Quakers  are  not  true  Quakers  according  to 
the  Holy  Scriptures. 

II.     The  Jesus  Christ  they  profess  is  not  the  true  Jesus  Christ. 

III.  The  spirit  by  which  they  are  acted  is  not  the  Spirit  of  God. 

IV.  They  do  not  own  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

V.     Their  Principles  and  Professions  are  full  of  contradictions  and 
hypocrises. 

VI.  Their  Religion  is  not  only  an  Heresy  in  matters  of  worship,  but 
also  in  the  Doctrines  of  Repentance,  Faith,  etc. 

VII.  Their  Religion  is  but  a  confused  mixture  of  Popery,  Arminean- 
isme,  Socineanisme,  Judaisme,  etc. 

VIII.  The  People  called  Quakers  (in  eflfect)  hold  no  God,  no  Christ, 
no  Spirit,  no  Angel,  no  Devil,  no  Resurrection,  no  Judgment,  no  Heaven, 
no  Hell,  but  what  is  in  man. 


THE  QUAKERS  I.\  RHODE  ISLAND  541 

IX.  All  that  their  Religion  reciuires  (externall  and  internal!)  to 
make  converts  and  proselites,  amounts  to  no  more  than  what  a  Reprobate 
may  easily  attain  unto  and  perform. 

X.  The  Popes  of  Rome  doe  not  swell  with  and  exercise  a  greater 
pride  than  the  Quaker  sjjirit  hath  expresst  and  doth  aspire  unto,  although 
many  truly  humble  souls  may  be  captivated  amongst  them,  as  may  be  in 
other  religions. 

XI.  The  Quaker's  Religion  is  more  obstructive  and  destructive  to 
the  conversion  and  salvation  of  the  Souls  of  People  than  most  of  the 
religions  this  day  extant  in  the  world. 

XII.  The  sufferings  of  the  Quakers  are  no  true  evidence  of  the 
Truth  of  their  religion. 

XIII.  Their  many  Books  and  writings  are  extremely  Poor,  Lame, 
Naked,  and  Sweld  Up  with  high  titles  and  words  of  Boasting  and  Vapor. 

XIV.  The  Spirit  of  their  Religion  tends  mainly,  ( i )  To  reduce  I'er- 
sons  from  Civility  to  Barbarisme  ;  (2)  To  an  arbitrary  Government  and  the 
Dictates  and  Decrees  of  that  sudden  spirit  that  acts  them;  (3)  To  a  sud- 
den cutting  off  of  People,  yea  of  Kings  and  Princes  opposing  them;  (4) 
To  as  fiery  Persecutions  for  matters  of  Religion  and  Conscience  as  hath 
been  or  can  be  practiced  by  any  Hunters  or  Persecutors  in  the  world. 

In  these  propositions  we  find  the  deliberate  misrepresentation  of 
Massachusetts  Presbyterianism,  united  with  an  intense  personal  contempt 
for  the  Quaker  leaders  and  advocates,  both  of  which  characteristics  appear 
in  Mr.  Williams'  treatise,  "George  Fox  Digged  Out  of  His  Burrowes." 
One  can  almost  feel  the  lash  of  the  Puritan  three-corded  whips  and  feel 
the  grip  of  the  hangman's  rope  as  we  read  the  pages  of  this  strange  and 
vituperous  arraignment  of  the  Quakers.  Here  we  see  the  well  authenti- 
cated attitude  of  the  man  who  has  been  styled  the  Pioneer  Apostle  of  re- 
ligious freedom  in  America.  He  is  now  sixty-five  years  of  age,  and  has 
spent  over  forty  of  those  years  amidst  the  sober  and  sobering  experiences 
of  pioneer  life,  in  the  wilderness.  His  individualism  and  what  John 
Quincy  Adams  calls  "a  conscientiously  contentious"  spirit  have  brought 
him  into  sharp  controversies,  hard  encounters  and  bitter  opposition  in 
civil,  social,  religious  and  colonial  affairs.  We  naturally  expect  at  this 
period  of  a  man's  career,  a  well-balanced,  judicial  mind,  a  conservative 
spirit  and  a  charitable  temper, — the  clear  products  of  experience,  vision 
and  brotherhood.  Mr.  Williams'  attitude  towards  the  Quakers  seems  to 
do  violence  to  these  usual  resultants  and  we  find  him  rowing  his  boat  to 
Newport  from  Providence,  a  distance  of  thirty  miles,  for  a  day  and  late 
mto  the  night,  to  enter  the  debate  with  the  Quakers,  who  had  enlisted  in 
the  religious  contest,  incident  to  his  challenge.  The  discussion  was  held 
in  the  Quaker  meeting  house  at  Newport.  His  opponents  were  John 
Burnyeat,  John  Stubbs  and  William  Edmundson, — all  able  expounders 
of  the  Faith.  The  plan  agreed  upon  was  that  seven  of  the  propositions 
were  to  be  debated  at  Newport  and  seven  at  Providence.  Mr.  Williams' 
brother,  living  at  Newport,  volunteered  to  assist  in  support  of  the  proposi- 


542  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

tions,  but  he  declined  all  assistance  and  fought  his  fight  alone.  The  debate 
continued  for  three  days  at  Newport  and  one  day  at  Providence  and  was 
attended  at  each  place  by  a  great  concourse  of  people.  The  contest  settled 
no  point  of  doctrine  or  duty  and  was  a  draw  game  in  a  theological  struggle, 
the  record  of  which  is  a  melancholy  monument  to  the  bitterness  of  a  war- 
fare, which  illustrated  little  of  "the  grace  of  saintliness,  the  beauty  of  holi- 
ness, or  the  persuasive  sweetness  of  the  divine  Light  in  Men."  That  the 
Quaker  cause  gained  many  converts  and  the  establishment  of  new  centres 
of  work  and  worship  in  the  Colony  of  Rhode  Island,  is  the  surest  testimony 
as  to  the  weight  of  argument  of  the  Quaker  debate.  Missionaries  going  out 
from  Newport  made  converts  at  Providence,  Warwick  and  Narragansett 
in  Rhode  Island  Colony,  and  Yearly  Meetings  were  held  in  East  Green- 
wich in  1699,  in  Providence  and  Smithfield  in  1718  and  in  South  Kings- 
town in  1743. 

It  was  the  year  1672  that  Quakerism  was  planted  in  the  Narragan- 
sett country,  where  many  able  and  influential  converts  were  made.  Fox 
writes : 

We  wente  to  Narragansett,  about  twenty  miles  from  Rhode  Island, 
and  Governor  Easton  went  with  us.  We  had  a  meeting  at  a  Justice's 
house  (Jireh  Bull,  son  of  Gov.  Henry  Bull),  where  Friends  had  never 
met  before.  It  was  very  large,  for  the  country  generally  came  in ;  and 
people  also  came  from  Connecticut  and  other  parts  round  about,  among 
whom  were  four  Justices  of  the  Peace. 

The  seed  planted  in  the  fertile  Narragansett  soil  produced  a  great 
harvest  of  devout  Friends,  and  many  able  leaders  and  ministers. 

The  Quaker  ministers  of  that  day  preached  not  only  their  doctrines 
and  beliefs,  but  also  inaugurated  reforms  of  social  and  humanitarian  evils, 
existent  in  the  Colony.  The  liquor  traffic  was  the  first  point  of  attack. 
In  1638  William  Baulston  was  licensed  at  Portsmouth  to  set  up  a  house 
of  entertainment  for  strangers,  and  also  to  brew  beer,  and  sell  wine  and 
"strong  waters."  Between  the  years  1655  and  1661  over  sixty  hogsheads 
of  rum,  wine,  brandy  and  other  "strong  waters"  were  sold  in  Providence 
by  Roger  Mowry,  Richard  Pray,  William  Fenner,  Henry  Fowler,  William 
Field,  Edward  Inman,  Edward  Taylor,  Robert  Williams  and  several 
others.  The  use  of  some  kinds  of  liquors  was  common  in  every  house- 
hold,— men  and  women  drinking  together.  Even  the  ministers  had  their 
sideboards  for  liquors,  treating  their  friends  to  hot  and  cold  drinks,  as  a 
sign  of  hospitality.  The  strictest  temperance  principles  were  advocated 
and  practiced  by  the  Quakers.  Lotteries  were  opposed,  when  they  were 
regarded  valuable  aids  by  churches  and  educational  institutions.  The 
marriage  of  members  by  a  minister  was  regarded  as  a  species  of  priest- 
craft, and  a  simple  ceremony  of  pledges  between  the  bride  and  groom 


THE  QUAKERS  IN  RHODE  ISLAND  543 

was  adopted.  Friends  in  no  case  might  take  an  oath,  either  as  an  expletive 
or  a  judicial  sign,  and  fidelity  to  one's  promise  was  a  sacred  obligation,  as 
was  honesty  in  trade  and  social  relations.  "Carnal"  warfare  was  con- 
trary to  the  Gospel  of  Peace  as  seen  by  Quakers.  Their  attitude  in  times 
of  war  has  often  aroused  a  hostile  sentiment  to  the  sect,  as  supporting  an 
unmanly  and  pacifist  policy.  Even  in  the  case  of  the  Revolutionary  War, 
the  principle  of  a  peace  policy  led  the  Quakers  of  Rhode  Island  to  e.vjjimge 
the  name  of  General  Nathanael  Greene  from  membership  of  the  East 
Greenwich  meeting  on  account  of  his  red-blooded  patriotism,  although  he 
was  a  blue-blooded  Friend.  Governor  Joseph  Wanton,  the  son  of  a 
Quaker,  refused  to  sign  commissions  to  Nathanael  Greene  and  the  other 
officers  of  the  "Army  of  Observation"  of  Rhode  Island,  and  was  refused 
a  commission  as  Governor  in  1776,  Nicholas  Cooke  taking  the  office  in 
his  stead. 

At  the  Yearly  Meeting  at  Newport,  in  1717,  "A  weighty  concern  on 
the  importing  and  keeping  of  slaves"  was  considered,  "to  waite  for  ye 
wisdom  of  God  how  to  discharge  themselves."  Rhode  Island,  and  more 
particularly  the  Narragansett  Bay  section,  was  the  region  wh€re  the  slave 
trade  and  negro  slavery  most  flourished  in  New  England.  Ships  sailed 
from  Newport,  Bristol,  Providence  and  Wickford,  with  cargoes  of  liquors 
and  other  commodities,  and  returned,  loaded  with  slaves,  from  the  African 
Coast,  for  home  and  other  Colonial  markets.  At  first  the  Friends  of 
Rhode  Island  owned  and  traded  slaves,  for  there  was  at  that  early  day  no 
moral  sentiment  against  human  slavery  and  all  professed  Christian  fami- 
lies that  could  afford  slaves  owned  them.  For  seventy  years  the  subject 
was  agitated  until,  in  1787,  in  response  to  a  Memorial  from  the  Quakers 
of  Rhode  Island,  the  General  Assembly  passed  an  Act  prohibiting  the 
African  Slave  Trade,  with  penalties  of  one  hundred  pounds  for  each  negro 
imported  and  one  thousand  pounds  for  each  vessel  engaged  in  the  busi- 
ness. 

Thomas  Hazard — "College  Tom," — of  South  Kingstown,  was  one  of 
the  first  Friends  to  awake  to  the  sin  and  evils  of  slave-holding.  His  father 
was  one  of  the  largest  slave-owners  in  Rhode  Island  and  he  was  brought 
up  in  the  midst  of  a  large  group  of  household  and  plantation  slaves. 
Young  Hazard  was  sent  by  his  father  to  Connecticut  to  buy  cattle  to  stock 
the  farm  on  which,  at  marriage,  he  was  to  settle.  On  this  trip,  he  was 
entertained  at  the  house  of  a  friend  of  his  father's,  a  deacon  of  the 
church,  who  remarked  that  "Quakers  were  not  Christians."  "College 
Tom,"  fresh  from  his  studies  and  full  of  Hazard  spirit,  was  aroused  to 
defend  the  Quakers,  when  the  Deacon  added,  "They  are  not  Christians 
because  they  hold  their  fellow-men  in  slavery."  The  stray  shot  hit  the 
mark  and  the  young  graduate  went  home  to  tell  his  honored  father  that 
he  was  a  convert  to  free  labor.    The  father  threatened  to  disinherit  "Tom" 


544  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

if  he  persisted,  but  the  son  stood  firm  in  his  new  views,  married,  took  the 
farm  and  cultivated  it  with  free  negro  labor,  in  1730. 

In  1760  John  Woohnan,  one  of  the  first  anti-slavery  agitators,  held 
five  meetings  in  Narragansett  and  others  at  Newport,  discussing  slavery 
questions,  publicly  and  at  the  homes  of  the  people.  From  this  date  the 
freeing  of  slaves  by  Quakers  in  Rhode  Island  spread  rapidly  and,  in  1773, 
at  the  Yearly  Meeting  at  Newport,  when  the  following  Minute  was 
adopted : 

Truth  not  only  requires  the  young  of  capacity  and  ability,  but  likemse 
the  aged  and  impotent,  and  all  in  a  state  of  infancy  and  nonage,  among 
Friends  to  be  discharged  and  set  free  from  a  state  of  slavery  that  we  do 
no  more  claim  property  in  the  human  race  as  zve  do  in  th-e  brutes  that 
perish. 

This  was  the  final  official  word  of  the  highest  authority  of  the  Friends 
as  to  slavery,  and  the  subsequent  records  relate  to  "dealings"  with  Quaker 
slave  owners. 

The  most  celebrated  case  of  "dealing"  in  the  Colonies  was  that  of 
Hon.  Stephen  Hopkins,  a  member  of  Smithfield  Monthly  Meeting.  He 
had  been  Governor  of  Rhode  Island  for  nine  terms,  and  was  at  that  date, 
1774,  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress,  sitting  at  Philadelphia.  He 
was  the  most  distinguished  citizen  and  statesman  of  the  Rhode  Island 
Colony.  He  had  one  slave  woman,  whom  he  would  not  free.  On  his 
final  refusal  to  give  her  her  freedom,  his  name  was  removed  from  the  roll 
of  Friends  and  he  ceased  to  be  under  their  care. 

That  the  Quakers  of  Rhode  Island  started  well  and  won  a  high  place 
in  social,  civil  and  spiritual  concerns  in  the  last  half  of  the  seventeenth 
and  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  centuries  admits  of  no  debate.  For 
two  generations  and  more,  Quaker  Governors,  Deputy  Governors,  Assist- 
ants, and  members  of  the  General  Assembly  held  the  chief  offices  of  the 
Colony  by  the  major  choice  of  the  people.  The  Courts  and  Magistrates 
were  chiefly  Quakers.  It  is  one  of  the  anomalies  of  Colonial  political  life 
that  the  quiet,  unostentatious  Quaker,  unambitious  for  office,  not  a  seeker 
for  worldly  honors,  should  have  held  sway  in  a  Colony  of  men  of  all 
shades  of  religious  belief  or  unbelief  for  a  century,  while  Roger  Williams, 
the  founder  and  father  of  Providence,  was  elected  to  the  Presidency  for  a 
single  year.  The  Quaker  population  was  not  large,  but  the  Quaker  influ- 
ence prevailed  and  governed  a  discordant  people. 

Rut  a  change  came  and  the  Quaker  political  power  declined,  while 
other  denominations  of  Christians  assumed  supremacy,  and  all  this  was 
due  to  the  Quaker  neglect  of  common  and  higher  education.  The  "Inner 
Light"  needed  the  reenforcement  of  the  light  of  science,  literature,  history, 
poetry,  economics  and  statecraft.  The  Quaker  built  the  meeting  house, 
but  neglected  the  school  house,  the  seminary  and  the  college. 


THE  QUAKERS  IN  RHODE  ISLAND  '         545 

The  Rev.  Dr.  James  McSparran,  an  outspoken  missionary  of  the 
Qiurch  of  England,  at  St.  Paul's  Church,  Narragansett,  1721-1756,  wrote 
of  conditions  religious  and  educational : 

In  Rhode  Island  no  Religion  is  established.  There  a  man  may,  with 
impunity  be  of  any  Society  or  of  none  at  all ;  but  the  Quakers  are,  for  the 
most  part,  the  People  in  Power.  *  *  *  Their  Descendants  and  Suc- 
cessors (of  the  Founders),  without  Schools,  without  a  regular  Clerg>',  be- 
came necessarily  rude  and  illiterate ;  and  as  Quakerism  prevailed,  learning 
was  decried,  Ignorance  and  Heresy  increased. 

The  first  reference  to  "guarded"  Quaker  education  in  New  England 
is  found  in  Newport  under  date  of  1684,  when  Christian  Loddwick  was 
granted  the  use  of  the  Friends'  meeting  house  in  Newport  "for  keeping 
of  a  school."  "Guarded  education"  meant  special  or  private  schools  for 
Quaker  children  only,  under  Quaker  teachers,  with  special  books  for 
instruction. 

For  a  hundred  years  the  Quakers  of  New  England  had  only  these 
local  schools,  but  the  loss  of  influence  and  numbers  and  the  natural 
awakening  of  the  human  mind  in  the  years  of  the  Revolutionary  struggle 
led  the  broadening  minded  Quakers  to  see  and  to  provide  for  a  broader 
education.  In  1779,  at  the  Newport  Yearly  Meeting,  a  large  committee 
was  chosen  to  consider  the  establishment  of  a  school  or  schools  of  a 
secondary  type.  After  three  years  of  deliberation,  the  slow  but  safe  and 
practical  Quaker  mind  recommended  the  establishment  of  a  central  school, 
one  of  its  functions  being  the  preparation  of  teachers  for  the  local  commu- 
nities. It  was  decided  to  establish  the  school  at  Portsmouth,  Rhode  Island. 
This  was  the  first  Yearly  Meeting  School  in  America  and  was  opened 
1784,  with  Isaac  Lawton  as  "Master,"  "trusting  to  receive  seventy-five 
pounds  per  year  to  keep  the  school."  As  sufficient  funds  did  not  material- 
ize, the  school  closed  in  1788,  in  part  owing  to  a  faulty  location  in  an 
island  town  and  at  a  great  distance  from  the  larger  body  of  New  Eng- 
land Friends. 

The  reestablishment  of  this  secondary  school  was  accomplished  in 
1819,  by  the  persistent  labors  of  Moses  Brown,  one  of  the  celebrated 
"Four  Brown  Brothers"  of  Providence,  "Johnny,  Josey,  Nickey,  Mosey." 
He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  school  at  Portsmouth,  and  after  thirty 
years  of  suspension,  Mr.  Brown,  by  a  large  donation  of  land  and  money, 
planted  it  permanently  on  his  own  estate  at  Providence,  where  it  has  had 
a  famous  history  and  has  rendered  great  service  in  the  education  of  young 
men  and  women.  At  first  known  as  The  Friends'  School,  it  now  bears 
the  name  of  its  distinguished  and  honored  Quaker  founder,  Moses  Brown, 
and  is  called  "The  Moses  Brown  School." 

That  the   Quakers   were  wise  and  prudent  governors,   legislators, 

R  1—35 


546  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

counsellors  and  judges  is  most  apparent  to  the  student  of  Rhode  Island 
history.  In  the  midst  of  a  multitude  of  sects,  they  held  the  confidence  of 
the  great  body  of  the  people  for  executive  ability,  honesty  in  administra- 
tion, and  save  for  a  pacific  policy  in  war  times,  were  prudently  progres- 
sive. While  the  official  administrations  of  the  governors  will  appear  in 
the  chapter  on  Colonial  Governors,  some  brief  reference  follows  of  a 
more  personal  character. 

William  Coddington,  Sr.,  whose  career  in  Boston  has  already  been 
given,  accepted  the  Quaker  doctrines  from  the  first  missionaries  at  New- 
port. His  wealth,  social  position  and  official  rank  gave  the  Quaker  cause 
signal  and  unexpected  strength.  Mr.  Coddington  was  Judge  at  Ports- 
mouth, 1638-1639;  also  at  Newport,  1639-1640,  and  Governor  of  Rhode 
Island  Colony  on  Aquidneck  from  March  12,  1640,  to  May  19,  1647.  He 
was  also  Governor  under  the  Royal  Charter,  1674- 1676,  and  from  August 
28,  1678,  to  November  i,  1678,  dying  in  office.  He  was  Deputy  Governor, 
1673-1674.  He  was  the  first  person  to  engage  in  commercial  enterprises 
in  Newport.  Judge  Durfee  says  of  him :  "He  had  in  him  a  little  too  much 
of  the  future  for  Massachusetts,  and  a  little  too  much  of  the  past  for 
Rhode  Island,  as  she  then  was."  He  was  the  founder  of  the  Colonial 
Judiciary  and  with  Dr.  John  Clarke  framed  the  Code  of  Laws  adopted 
in  1647. 

Nicholas  Easton,  who  was  prominent  in  Boston  affairs  (bom  1592, 
died  1675),  was  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Portsmouth  Compact  in  1638, 
and  the  second  signer  of  "The  Agreement"  of  the  Newport  settlement  in 
1639.  Easton  and  Dr.  John  Clarke  were  chosen  to  correspond  with  Sir 
Harry  Vane  "to  treate  about  obtaining  a  Patent  of  the  Island  from  his 
Majestic,"  Charles  the  First.  He  was  elected  an  Assistant  in  164042-43- 
44.-53,  and  President  under  the  Patent  from  May,  1650,  to  August,  1651, 
from  May  i,  1654,  to  September  12,  1654,  and  Governor  under  the  Char- 
ter from  May,  1672,  to  May,  1674.  He  was  Deputy  Governor  under  the 
Charter  from  1666  to  1669  and  from  1670  to  1671.  Nicholas  Easton  was 
one  of  the  most  interesting  men  of  the  founders  of  Aquidneck,  and  was 
in  the  front  rank  in  civil  and  religious  freedom.  He  built  the  first  house 
at  Newport  and  the  first  wind  mill  on  the  Island  and  was  among  the  first 
to  accept  the  Quaker  faith.  He  was  a  large  land-holder  and  the  long 
beach  bears  his  name.  He  and  wife  Christian  were  buried  in  the  Friends' 
Burial  Ground. 

John  Easton,  son  of  Nicholas  (1624-1705),  was  Attorney-General 
of  Newport  and  Portsmouth  1653-54  and  for  the  Colony  1656-57-60-61- 
62-63-64-65-66-67-68-69-70-72-73-74;  an  Assistant,  1666-74-76-81-86-89- 
90;  Deputy  Governor  from  1674-1676,  and  Governor  from  1690-1695. 
His  official  life  in  various  offices  extended  over  a  period  of  fifty  years. 

Peter  Easton,  son  of  Nicholas,  held  the  office  of  Commissioner  for 
Newport  for  two  years. 


THE  QUAKERS  IN  RHODE  ISLAND  547 

Walter  Clarke,  "a  Quaker  war  policy"  Governor,  held  the  office  for 
three  separate  periods,  1676-77,  May  1686,  to  July,  1686,  and  January, 
1696,  to  March,  1698.  He  was  the  oldest  son  of  Jeremiah  Clarke,  one 
of  the  original  founders  of  Aquidneck.  The  father  had  occupied  the 
offices  of  captain  of  militia,  treasurer  for  the  town  of  Newport,  and  also 
of  the  four  towns,  1647-49.  He  also  was  acting  Governor  for  a  period 
during  Governor  Coddington's  terms.  Walter,  born  1640,  died  17 14,  held 
public  offices  for  many  years,  being  a  Deputy,  1667-70-72-73;  an  Assist- 
ant, 1674-75-75-99;  Deputy  Governor,  1697-80-81-82-83-84-85-86,  1700- 
14, — a  period  of  twenty-two  years.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Council  of 
Sir  Edmund  Andros,  which  met  at  Boston,  December  22,  1686.  Four 
brothers  of  Governor  Clarke  held  important  places  in  church  and  state. 
That  Mr.  Clarke  held  public  office  for  thirty  years  and  more  is  evidence 
that  the  Quaker  peace  policy  was  the  prevailing  sentiment  of  the  people  of 
the  two  Colonies  of  Narragansett  Bay. 

Henry  Bull,  the  next  Quaker  Governor,  a  follower  of  Anne  Hutchin- 
son in  Boston, — a  founder  and  an  active  participant  in  the  organization  and 
conduct  of  the  two  Aquidneck  towns,  and  an  early  proselyte  of  the  Quaker 
faith,  held  the  office  from  1685-1686,  Februar>'  27  to  May  7,  1690.  Mr. 
Bancroft  refers  to  Governor  Bull  as  "one  of  the  old  Antinomian  exiles, 
the  more  than  octogenarian,  *  *  *  the  fearless  Quaker,  true  to  the 
light  within,  who  employed  the  last  glimmerings  of  his  life  to  restore  the 
democratic  charter  of  Rhode  Island."  His  son,  Jireh,  was  one  of  the 
first  Quakers  to  settle  in  the  Narragansett  country.  Governor  Bull  died 
January,  1695,  in  his  eighty-fifth  year. 

Caleb  Carr  was  the  last  of  the  Quaker  Governors  during  the  Codding- 
ton  period,  although  the  end  of  the  first  period  of  strong  Quaker  political 
influence  ended  with  the  career  of  Governor  Walter  Clarke,  in  1714. 
From  Coddington's  first  administration  to  Clarke's  death,  men  of  the 
democratic  or  Quaker  political  policy  had  held  almost  complete  control  of 
civil  and  political  affairs  in  the  Narragansett  Bay  Colonies, — nearly  three- 
quarters  of  a  century.  Of  the  Judges,  Presidents  and  Governors,  two 
were  Providence  men.  Dexter  and  Williams,  three  were  of  Warwick  and 
sixteen  of  Newport.  The  General  Assembly,  the  general  officers,  as  well 
as  the  Governors  and  Deputy  Governors,  were  men  who  foreshadowed 
the  Quaker  ideals,  and  on  the  advent  of  the  disciples  of  Fox  accepted  and 
acted  on  Quaker  principles,  in  affairs  of  religion  and  civil  life.  Easton 
and  Clarke  were  accepted  preachers  of  the  Quaker  faith  and  went  forth  to 
scatter  seed  in  this  and  other  Colonies.  They  were  always  true  to  the 
doctrines  of  soul  liberty  and  democracy, — the  basic  principles  of  the 
Asquidneck  founders.  Mr.  Jones  says  of  this  group  of  Quaker  politicians 
and  legislators :  "They  were  not  perhaps  great  statesmen,  but  they  were 
brave  forerurmers  of  the  American  idea  that  the  Colonists  should  govern 


548  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

themselves,  *  ♦  *  the  principle'  that  gave  birth  to  the  American 
Nation  and  on  which  its  political  life  rests  to-day." 

Between  the  two  Quaker  epochs,  the  Coddington  and  Wanton  periods, 
r— two  of  the  most  distinguished  men  held  the  offices  of  Governor;  the 
first,  Samuel  Cranston,  of  Newport,  holding  the  position  twenty-nine 
years, — dying  in  office, — and  Joseph  Jenckes,  of  Providence,  Governor 
for  five  years.    Both  are  treated  in  the  chapter  on  Colonial  Governors. 

The  Wanton  family,  with  four  Rliode  Island  Governors  on  its  honor 
roll,  cut  a  large  figure  in  our  Colonial  life,  social,  industrial,  commercial 
and  political.  Edward  Wanton,  the  American  ancestor,  born  1629,  was 
a  ship  builder,  living  in  Scituate,  Massachusetts,  and  was  one  of  the  first 
and  most  distinguished  to  accept  the  Quaker  faith.  He  had  been  an 
officer  on  guard  in  Boston  at  the  execution  of  the  first  Quaker  martyrs 
and  was  impressed  by  their  spirit  and  heroism.  He  went  home  from  the 
execution  greatly  changed  in  his  feelings,  saying,  as  he  unbuckled  his 
sword :  "Mother,  we  have  been  murdering  the  Lord's  people,  and  I  will 
never  put  a  sword  on  again."  His  house  at  Scituate  was  the  home  of  the 
meeting  and  headquarters  of  visiting  Friends,  he  being  the  foremost  minis- 
ter in  that  section  and  held  in  high  regard  by  his  townsmen. 

His  oldest  son,  Joseph,  was  also  a  ship  builder,  and  removed  to  Tiver- 
ton about  1692,  being  one  of  the  founders  of  the  town  which  was  trans- 
ferred from  Massachusetts  to  Rhode  Island  in  1747.  Two  other  sons, 
William  and  John,  settled  at  Newport  and  engaged  in  ship  building  about 
1702.  The  Wantons  were  men  of  enterprise  and  large  business  capacity, 
acquiring  wealth  and  social  position.  William,  the  first  of  the  name  to 
hold  the  office  of  Governor,  was  not,  while  holding  office,  a  Quaker  by 
profession,  though  really  exercising  the  qualities  of  his  father's  Faith. 
Possibly  his  marriage  to  Ruth  Bryant  led  to  his  separating  from  Quaker- 
ism, for  her  parents  hated  Quakers  as  much  as  his  father  did  Presby- 
terians. The  story  goes  that  William  said  :  "Ruth,  let  us  break  away  from 
this  silly  bondage.  I  will  give  up  my  religion  and  thou  shalt  give  up  thine, 
and  we  will  go  to  the  Church  of  England  and  to  the  Devil  together."  Both 
brothers  were  merchants  as  well  as  ship  builders  and  also  sent  their  ships 
on  commercial  enterprises.  With  a  military  strain  in  their  blood  they 
performed  daring  and  dashing  naval  exploits,  capturing  privates  and 
privateers  on  our  Eastern  coasts.  In  a  single  cruise  of  two  months  in  the 
Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  in  1702,  Captain  William  Wanton  captured  and 
brought  into  port  three  French  ships,  one  of  them  a  privateer  of  two  hun- 
dred and  sixty  tons,  carrying  twenty  guns  and  forty-eight  men,  another  a 
vessel  of  three  hundred  tons,  with  sixteen  guns,  and  the  third  a  vessel  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty  tons,  mounting  eight  guns,  all  loaded  with  dried 
fish.  The  patriotism  and  great  business  abilities  of  the  Wantons  won  for 
them  great  popularity  and  leadership  in  all  public  affairs.     From  1704  to 


THE  QUAKERS  IN  RHODE  ISLAND  549 

his  death  in  the  governorship  in  1733,  William  was  almost  continuously 
in  public  office,  being  a  Deputy  seventeen  years,  Speaker  of  House  of 
Deputies  sixteen  years,  Colonel  of  the  Island  regiment,  and  Governor  by 
two  elections,  1732-33. 

His  younger  brother,  John,  succeeded  to  the  governorship,  holding 
the  office  from  1734  to  1740,  he  too  dying  in  that  office.  He  had  been 
Deputy  Governor  in  1721-22,  1730-1734.  Governor  John  Wanton  was  a 
minister  of  the  Quaker  faith  and  was  a  powerful  and  persuasive  preacher. 
It  is  said  that  he  was  the  most  eloquent  speaker  of  his  day  in  New  Eng- 
land. Multitudes  gathered  to  hear  him  in  New  England,  New  York  and 
Pennsylvania.  He  was  the  wealthiest  man  in  the  Colony  of  Rhode  Island, 
his  manners  were  refined,  and  though  a  Quaker  preacher,  wore  a  "bright 
scarlet  cloak  lined  with  blue."  Bishop  Berkeley  came  to  Newjiort  during 
the  Governorship  of  William  Wanton,  and  was  warmly  received  and  cher- 
ished by  the  two  brothers.  Governors. 

Gideon  Wanton,  son  of  Joseph  of  Tiverton,  was  Colonial  Treasurer 
from  Rhode  Island  from  1732  to  1744,  and  Governor  for  two  years,  1745- 
46  and  1747-48. 

Joseph  Wanton,  the  last  of  the  Wanton  family  to  serve  as  Governor, 
holding  the  office  from  1769  to  November,  1775,  was  not  a  Quaker,  and 
was  deposed  from  office  on  account  of  disloyalty  to  the  American  Inde- 
pendence. 

The  other  Quaker  Governor  of  the  Wanton  Period  was  Stephen  Hop- 
kins, whose  career  is  fully  described  in  the  chapter  on  Colonial  Governors. 

Like  all  other  bed-rock  movements  in  religious  reforms,  the  Quaker 
pioneers  were  ardent  missionaries,  courting  opposition,  obloquy,  persecu- 
tion, and  even  death,  for  the  sake  of  disseminating  their  doctrines  and 
illustrating  the  power  and  value  of  their  faith.  They  were  no  fair- 
weather  Christians,  but  the  ratlier  courted  storms  and  tempests.  They 
resorted  to  all  sorts  of  methods  to  illustrate  and  defend  their  teachings. 
They  mocked  the  savage  sternness  of  the  Puritan  in  ways  that  trenched 
on  common  decency,  and,  in  nakedness  of  body,  paraded  the  public  streets 
of  Salem,  as  well  as  in  fantastic  garbs,  to  express  by  act  and  symbol  their 
ideas  of  the  abject  nakedness  and  absurdities  of  their  opponents.  These 
saints  of  a  new  gospel  of  peace  and  sanctified  holiness  went  forth  in  a  holy 
crusade  against  the  usurpers,  and  to  them,  desecrators  of  a  spiritual  Chris- 
tianity, and  stones,  prisons,  the  fagots,  the  hangman's  rope,  were  but 
trophies  of  Victory  and  emblems  of  the  Stars  in  their  heavenly  crowns. 

The  kind  treatment  of  the  Quakers  by  the  authorities  of  the  Colony, 
and  by  the  people  of  Newport  especially,  won  their  immediate  confidence, 
and  both  Newport  and  Portsmouth  may  be  regarded  as  the  asylums — the 
American  Colonial  Cities  of  Refuge.  It  is  quite  possible,  and  even  proba- 
ble, that  the  attitude  and  influence  of  the  Pre-Quakeress,  Anne  Hutchin- 


550  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

son,  had  made  the  Island  towns  a  spiritual  magnet  to  draw  the  Quaker 
forces  to  Rhode  Island,  where  their  first  great  conquests  were  made, — so 
many  converts  in  fact  that  in  a  few  years  the  Quaker  population  was  not 
only  a  majority  in  numbers,  but  in  wealth,  intelligence  and  social  rank 
exceeded  by  far  all  others. 

While  many  Rhode  Island  men  and  women  of  the  Quaker  faith  suf- 
fered various  forms  of  persecution  in  various  ways  in  Plymouth  and  the 
Bay  Colonies,  it  fell  to  a  Rhode  Island  woman,  Mrs.  Mary  Dyer,  of  New- 
port, wife  of  Mr.  William  Dyer  (for  some  years  Qerk  of  the  Colony, 
Solicitor,  Commissioner,  etc.),  to  be  the  only  woman  hung  on  Boston 
Common  for  the  Quaker  faith.  The  Dyers  came  to  Boston  in  1635,  join- 
ing the  First  Church,  under  Rev.  John  Wilson,  in  December  of  the  same 
year.  Both  were  liberal  Puritans  and  joined  Mrs.  Hutchinson  and  her 
brother-in-law,  Rev.  John  Wheelwright,  in  the  advocacy  of  a  free  church 
in  a  free  state.  This  union  brought  the  Dyers  into  intimate  personal  rela- 
tions with  Coddington,  Easton,  Clarke,  Coggeshall,  Brenton,  Bull  and 
others  of  the  non-conformist  Puritans.  Mrs.  Dyer  was  in  close  fellowship 
with  Mrs.  Hutchinson  during  her  long  trial  before  the  Puritan  Synod,  and 
entered  into  the  struggle  sympathetically  and  passionately.  So  firm  was 
her  devotion  that  when  Mrs.  Hutchinson  was  so  cruelly  excommunicated 
from  the  First  Church  of  Boston,  Mrs.  Dyer,  a  member  of  the  church,  left 
her  seat,  took  her  arm  in  support  of  her  suffering  friend  and  walked  by 
her  side  out  of  the  meeting  house  in  the  midst  of  the  gibes  of  the  clerical 
party,  which,  in  the  midst  of  an  apparent  victory,  suflFered  a  great  defeat 
for  freedom  in  faith.  The  Dyers  joined  the  Aquidneck  migration  from 
Boston  in  March,  1638,  and  assisted  as  co-founders  of  the  towns  of  Ports- 
mouth and  Newport  in  1638-39.  It  is  but  fair  to  state  that  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Dyer  were  active  in  setting  up  the  first  organized  town  government  in 
Rhode  Island  and  in  the  founding  the  first  Colonial  Democracy  in  the 
world,  on  the  sure  basis  of  zeal,  absolute  freedom  in  spirituals,  what  Mr. 
Adams  calls  "New  England's  first  protests  against  formulas,  *  ♦  * 
the  ideas  of  extreme  civil  liberty  and  religious  toleration." 

In  the  conflict  between  the  individualism  of  Providence,  the  mysticism 
of  Warwick  and  the  centralization  of  Aquidneck,  the  people  of  the  Island 
Colony  grew  into  the  larger  conception  of  Democracy  and  a  fuller  applica- 
tion of  spiritual  equality,  under  the  wise  and  inspiring  leadership  of  Dr. 
John  Clarke  and  President  Coddington.  Wliile  it  was  not  given  to  Mrs. 
Hutchinson  to  welcome  the  Quakers  to  Newport  in  1657,  it  is  very  certain 
that  the  Dyers  were  among  the  group  of  the  larger  vision  and  the  sweeter 
faith.  For  had  not  Mrs.  Dyer  spent  five  years  from  1652  in  her  native 
land,  where  she  had  become  a  disciple  of  George  Fox  and  a  minister  of 
the  Quaker  faith.  On  her  return  home,  disembarking  at  Boston,  she  was 
put  in  prison,  but  was  released  by  the  intercession  of  her  husband,  who 


THE  QUAKERS  IN  RHODE  ISLAND  551 

had  leave  to  take  licr  home  to  Newport,  "bound  in  a  great  penalty  not  to 
lodge  her  in  any  town  of  the  Colony  (Massachusetts  Bay),  nor  to  permit 
her  to  have  speech  with  any  on  the  journey." 

In  1658  the  Bay  Colony  added  stripes,  ear  croppings,  tongue  borings, 
jail  sentences  and  death  to  the  already  merciless  cruelties  to  Quakers,  but 
still  the  offending  Quakers  went  to  their  arrests,  floggings  and  imprison- 
ments, with  the  alacrity  of  "brides  adorned  for  their  husbands."  The  rec- 
ords of  punishments  inflicted  are  too  terrible  to  be  told  in  an  age  of 
humanity.  The  instance  of  William  Brend,  who  in  his  old  age  received 
"one  hundred  and  seventeen  blows  on  his  bare  back  with  a  tarred  rope," 
must  suffice.  Concerning  Mary  Dyer,  of  Newport,  our  story  must  con- 
clude. In  company  with  Mary  Scott  and  Hope  Clifton,  of  Providence, 
Mrs.  Dj'er  went  to  Boston  in  the  autumn  of  1659.  There  she  met  Wil- 
liam Robinson  and  Marmaduke  Stephenson,  just  returned  from  an  East- 
ern journey.  The  three  declared  to  a  Divine  Call  to  visit  Boston  to  testify 
to  the  Truth,  with  their  lives,  if  need  be.  Arrested  and  arraigned  before 
Governor  Endicott  and  the  court,  in  answer  to  "Why  have  you  come,"  the 
three  replied.  "In  obedience  to  the  call  of  the  Lord."  The  next  day,  after 
the  sermon,  the  prisoners  were  called  and  thus  sentenced :  "Hearken,  you 
shall  be  led  back  to  the  place  from  whence  you  came  and  from  thence  to 
the  execution,  to  be  hangeth  on  the  gallows  till  you  are  dead."  "The  will 
of  the  Lord  be  done,"  was  Mary  Dyer's  answer.  "Take  her  away.  Mar- 
shal," spoke  Endicott.  "Yea,  joyfully  shall  I  go,"  was  her  response. 
October  27,  1659,  was  the  day  of  the  execution.  Midst  the  din  of  drums 
the  three  walked  hand  in  hand  to  the  gallows,  Mary  Dyer  in  the  middle. 
"Are  you  not  ashamed  to  walk  thus  between  two  young  men,"  asked  the 
officer.  "No  "  replied  the  woman  of  soul  and  vision ;  "this  is  to  me  the 
hour  of  the  greatest  joy  I  ever  had  in  the  world.  No  ear  can  hear,  nor 
tongue  can  utter  and  no  heart  can  understand  the  sweet  incomes  and  the 
refreshings  of  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  which  I  now  feel."  The  two  men, 
her  companions,  were  hung  before  her  eyes,  and  with  her  arms  and  legs 
bound  and  face  covered  with  a  handkerchief  loaned  by  her  former  pastor. 
Rev.  John  Wilson,  who  had  come  to  witness  the  hanging  of  a  former 
church  member,  she  stood  ready  for  the  sacrifice  of  her  life  on  the  Boston 
gallows, — the  altar  of  freedom.  The  intercession  of  influential  friends 
spared  the  gallows  its  intended  victim  and  Mrs.  Dyer  was  taken  back  to 
Newport  and,  after  a  little,  went  on  a  religious  visit  to  Shelter  Island,  in 
the  Sound.  John  Taylor  writes  of  her,  "She  was  a  comely  woman  and  a 
grave  matron  and  cirn  shined  in  the  image  of  God." 

Again  she  must  go  to  Boston,  as  she  said:  "I  must  go  and  seek  the 
repeal  of  that  wicked  law  against  God's  people."  She  reached  Boston, 
^fay  21,  t66o,  and  was  immediately  seized  and  taken  before  Governor 
Endicott.    "Are  you  the  same  Mary  I>yer  that  was  here  before?"  asked 


552  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

Endicott.  "I  am  the  same  Mary  Dyer."  "You  will  own  yourself  a 
Quaker,  will  you  not?"  "I  will  own  myself  reproachfully  so  called." 
Then  Endicott  issued  the  order  for  her  execution,  following  which  she 
replied  that  she  had  come  to  secure  the  repeal  of  their  wicked  laws.  On 
June  the  first,  1660,  Mary  Dyer  was  led  to  her  death  on  the  gallows  on 
Boston  Common.  The  din  of  drums  was  too  loud  for  her  voice  to  reach 
the  ears  of  the  people,  but  some  one  heard  her  say,  "Yea,  I  have  been  in 
Paradise  these  several  days."  A  few  minutes  later  and  Mary  Dyer  was 
a  companion  of  the  hosts  of  martyrs, — "One  of  the  few,  the  immortal 
names  that  were  not  born  to  die." 

She  is  described  as  "a  person  of  no  mean  extract  or  parentage,  of 
an  estate  pretty  plentiful,  of  a  comely  stature  and  countenance,  of  a 
piercing  knowledge  in  many  things,  of  a  wonderful  sweet  and  pleasant 
discourse." 

Mr.  Arnold  calls  Mrs.  Dyer's  return  to  Boston  as  the  result  of  a 
"singular  infatuation."  But  every  martyr  in  the  world's  long  roll  of  tried 
souls  has  had  a  similar  "singular  infatuation," — from  John  Brown  at 
Harper's  Ferry  to  Jesus  the  Christ  on  the  Cross  without  the  Gate  of  Jer- 
usalem. "In  obedience  to  the  will  of  the  Lord  God  I  came  and  in  His 
Will  I  abide  faithful  to  death."    So  spake  Mary  Dyer  on  the  gallows. 

"Father  if  it  be  possible  let  this  cup  pass  from  me.  Nevertheless 
not  my  will  but  thine  be  done."  So  spake  Jesus  the  Christ  at  the  foot  of 
the  Cross. 

The  Friends'  Records  of  Portsmouth  thus  note  the  death  of  Mrs. 
Dyer.  "Mary  Dyer,  the  wife  of  William  Dyer,  of  Newport,  in  Rhode 
Island.  She  was  put  to  death  at  the  town  of  Boston  with  the  like  cruel 
hand  as  the  martyrs  in  Queen  Mary's  time,  upon  the  31  day  of  the  3d 
mo.  1660." 

"She  hangs  there  as  a  flag,"  said  Humphrey  Atherton,  of  Boston, 
and  he  said  truly,  for  this  flag  of  warning  of  righteous  indignation  was 
seen  across  the  sea,  and  the  royal  order  of  Charles  the  Second  put  an  end 
to  Quaker  murders  in  Massachusetts  and  made  the  Endicott  administra- 
tion infamous  as  an  administration  of  Puritan  law. 

The  Dyer  family  of  Rhode  Island  already  honored  by  two  Governors, 
is  in  lineal  descent  from  William  and  Mary  Dyer. 

Richman  writes :  "Mary  Dyer,  by  her  martyrdom  had  been  the 
means  of  giving  to  the  principle  of  soul  liberty,  as  championed  by  the 
Quakers  of  Providence  Plantations  (Rhode  Island  on  Aquidneck),  a  signal 
triumph  over  the  principle  of  persecution  as  championed  by  the  Puritans 
of  the  Bay." 

What  finer  illustration  could  be  shown  of  the  fruitage  of  soul  liberty 
as  taught  in  the  Anne  Hutchinson  forum  in  Boston,  from  1634  to  1638, 


THE  QUAKERS  IN  RHODE  ISLAND 


553 


than  was  seen  in  one  of  her  disciples,  Mary  Dyer,  who,  taught  in  the 
school  of  a  later  experience  in  the  Colony  of  Rhode  Island  on  Aquidneck, 
and  perfected  through  sutYering  and  persecution  for  conscience  sake, 
offered  her  life  as  a  free  gift  on  the  altar  of  freedom  that  others,  through 
her  sacrifice,  might  become  partakers  of  a  more  perfect  title  to  the  divine 
prerogative  of  God's  freemen. 


CHAPTER  XXX 


THE  HUGUENOTS  IN  RHODE  ISLAND 


CHAPTER  XXX. 
THE  HUGUENOTS  IN  RHODE  ISLAND. 

The  Huguenots,  the  Puritans  of  France,  were  a  people  of  singular 
purity  and  of  austere  virtues.  Their  intelligence,  religious  zeal  and  love 
of  civil  freedom  and  toleration  made  tlieni  the  natural  opponents  of  the 
ancient  faiths,  and  won  to  their  side  a  large  part  of  the  middle  and  higher 
classes,  friends  of  the  new  learning.  Civil  wars  ensued  hetween  the  Cath- 
olics and  Protestants,  between  1547  and  1592,  and  were  waged  with  piti- 
less fury,  including  in  its  dreadful  record  the  massacre  of  St.  Barthol- 
omew's Day,  when  30,000  lives  were  mercilessly  slaughtered,  on  the  occa- 
sion of  the  wedding  festivities  of  Henry  of  Navarre,  August  18,  1572. 
On  April  13,  1598,  Henry  IV,  King  of  France,  put  an  end  to  the  religious 
wars  of  the  country  by  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  which  put  the  Catholics  and 
Huguenots  on  an  equality  in  political  rights,  and  military  and  judicial 
concessions  were  made  to  the  Huguenots,  with  limited  religious  liberty 
to  both  bodies.  In  1685,  Louis  XIV,  by  proclamation,  revoked  the  Edict 
and  forbade  the  free  exercise  of  the  Protestant  religion  in  France.  This 
suicidal  act  of  the  French  autocrat  drove  into  exile  800,000  of  the  most 
valuable  citizens  of  France, — artisans,  scientists,  men  of  learning  and  of 
good  wealth,  industrious,  virtuous,  freedom  loving,  law  abiding  men  and 
women  of  the  country.  In  her  Protestant  population,  France  possessed 
her  most  valuable  material  for  strengthening  the  government,  excelling 
in  manufactures  and  replenishing  the  army.  Driven  from  their  homes 
by  religious  persecution,  they  naturally  looked  to  the  New  World,  and 
more  especially  to  New  England  for  refuge.  The  first  settlements  made 
in  New  England  were  probably  at  Boston  and  at  .Salem  as  early  as  1662. 
Others  were  made  at  Oxford  and  at  Mil  ford,  Massachusetts,  Hartford, 
Connecticut,  New  Amsterdam,  Staten  Island,  New  Rochelle  and  Kings- 
ton, New  York,  and  at  various  places  in  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  Vir- 
ginia, South  Carolina,  known  as  "the  home  of  the  Huguenots,"  and  in 
Florida.  In  the  autumn  of  1686,  by  an  agreement  between  their  leaders 
and  the  proprietors  of  the  Narragansett  Country,  a  little  band  of  Hugue- 
nots, tempest-tossed  and  weary  with  their  long  voyage  on  the  seas,  located 
in  the  town  of  Rochester  (North  Kingstown)  bringing  with  them  the 
blessings  of  a  vital  faith,  of  frugal  habits  and  the  knowledge  of  and  skill 
in  new  industries.  The  site  for  the  new  French  town  was  on  Hunt's 
river,  near  the  house  of  John  Foanes.  The  price  of  the  land  was  four 
shillings  an  acre  cash  or  twenty-five  pounds  for  every  one  hundred  acres, 
payable  in  three  years  with  interest  at  six   per  cent  thereafter.     Each 


5S8  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

family  was  to  have  one  hundred  acres  of  upland  if  desired  and  a  portion 
of  meadow  on  the  river.  M.  Ezekiel  Carre,  the  minister,  was  to  have  one 
hundred  and  fifty  acres  gratis ;  one  hundred  acres  were  assigned  as  glebe 
land  and  fifty  acres  to  support  a  Protestant  schoolmaster.  A  town  site 
was  laid  out  for  a  compact  settlement  and  forty-five  families  settled 
thereon,  building  a  meeting  house,  a  mill  for  grinding  grain,  and  twenty- 
five  houses.  Orchards  of  apples,  grapes  and  honey  locusts  were  planted 
and  mulberry  preserves  were  planned  for  the  production  of  silk.  About 
five  hundred  families  were  to  follow  this  advanced  company,  if  events 
proved  favorable. 

For  the  next  four  years,  by  their  industry,  intelligence  and  consistent 
behavior  as  Christians  and  peaceable  citizens,  they  won  the  respect  of 
their  English  neighbors,  who  were  often  glad  to  avail  themselves  of  the 
services  of  the  French  minister,  the  French  doctor  and  the  French  school- 
master. Soon  orchards,  vineyards,  and  gardens  flourished  where  so 
lately  had  been  the  "forest  primeval,"  and  the  most  sanguine  expectations 
of  prosperity  and  abundance  were  everywhere  becoming  realities.  After 
the  long  days  of  toil  and  labor,  from  their  humble  cots  at  eventide  were 
heard  the  prayers  of  thanksgiving  ascending  to  Him  who  had  brought 
them  safely  into  the  Promised  Land,  and  at  the  sunset  hour  the  hymn  of 
praise  arose  to  "Him,  from  whom  all  blessings  flow." 

During  the  first  season  at  French-town,  the  newcomers  were  disturbed 
by  their  English  neighbors,  who  cut  and  harvested  the  hay  on  the  meadows 
alloted  to  them,  depriving  them  of  fodder  for  their  cattle.  Complaints 
were  made  to  Governor  Andros,  who  ordered  the  hay  crop  divided,  one- 
half  to  destitute  English  and  the  other  to  the  French,  thereby  giving  partial 
relief  to  the  owners,  and  others  in  need. 

The  next  source  of  trouble  arose  from  a  declaration  of  war  between 
England  and  France,  which  seems  to  have  aroused  the  suspicions  of  the 
English  who  held  all  the  claims  in  their  vicinity;  and  in  March,  1690,  the 
government  officials  ordered  the  French  settlers  to  present  themselves 
before  John  Greene,  at  Warwick,  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the 
King  of  England,  promising  them  that  in  return  they  should  not  be  dis- 
turbed. Previous  to  this,  they  had  been  greatly  annoyed  by  bands  of 
rough  and  ignorant  English  colonists,  who  had  entered  their  houses 
searching  for  concealed  firearms  and  ammunition,  implying  by  these  acts 
that  the  Huguenots  were  enemies  to  the  government. 

Another  year  passed  by,  when  unexpectedly  a  small  cloud  "no 
bigger  than  a  man's  hand"  began  to  show  itself  above  the  horizon  of  their 
calm  but  busy  lives.  Some  uneasiness  began  to  be  felt  concerning  the 
title  to  their  lands,  and  understanding  but  little  of  the  controversy,  which 
unknown  to  them,  had  been  going  on  for  many  years  between  Rhode 


THE  HUGUENOTS  559 

Island  and  Connecticut  concerning  the  proprietorship  of  the  Xarragansett 
country,  they  could  not  comprehend  the  true  condition  of  affairs.  When 
it  was  finally  decided  that  the  parties  who  had  sold  them  their  land  had 
no  right  nor  title  thereto,  and  that  they  were  occupying  and  improving 
that  to  which  others  had  a  prior  claim,  they  hegan  to  realize  that  they 
had  been  deceived.  The  poor  colonists  were  soon  notified  by  the  proper 
authorities  that  in  order  to  hold  their  possessions,  they  would  be  obliged 
to  buy  their  farms  over  again  since  their  deeds  gave  them  no  title  there- 
to. Discouraged,  disappointed,  and  smarting  under  what  seemed  to 
them  the  injustice  of  the  English  Crown,  they  decided  to  make  no  further 
efforts  to  justify  their  claims,  but  to  abandon  their  homes  once  more  and 
join  their  more  fortunate  friends  in  other  colonies.  Once  again,  after  five 
years  of  peace,  the  discouraged  little  band  were  homeless  wanderers  in 
a  strange  land.  Some  of  them  joined  the  more  prosperous  settlement  of 
their  fellow-exiles  in  Oxford;  some  went  to  Xew  Rochelle  and  some  to 
South  Carolina,  but  by  far  the  greater  part  established  themselves  in 
New  York  City.  No  other  band  of  French  emigrants  bound  for  America 
left  France  with  fairer  prospects  and  no  other  was  destined  to  suffer 
greater  hardship  or  experience  more  bitter  disappointment.  This  sad 
termination  of  what  promised  to  be  a  flourishing  colony  and  the -scatter- 
ing of  its  people  recall  the  dispersion  of  the  Acadian  farmers  which 
Longfellow  has  so  touchingly  pictured  in  his  poem  of  "Evangeline." 

It  has  been  said  "The  Huguenots  gave  a  lustre  and  a  glory  to  every 
place  and  everything  they  touched."  It  is  impossible  of  course  to  con- 
jecture what  might  have  been,  had  they  remained,  the  influence  exerted 
by  these  earnest,  industrious,  intelligent  people  upon  Rhode  Island  colonial 
history.  Many  of  the  Frenchtown  Huguenots  were  of  the  flower  of 
France,  educated  far  beyond  their  English  neighbors  and  bringing  with 
them  the  laughter  and  gladness  of  their  sunshiny  vine-clad  hills,  and  the 
ready  tact,  the  elegance  of  manner,  the  love  of  the  beautiful,  and  that 
indescribable  finesse  which  characterizes  the  Frenchman  in  all  countries 
and  in  all  climes,  and  of  which  our  English  forefathers  were  often  so 
sadly  wanting.  Some  of  them  decided  to  remain  on  their  farms  and  others 
later  on,  returned,  and  their  children  took  up  the  lands  they  had  deserted ; 
and  it  is  a  singular  fact  that  many  of  the  oldest  and  best  known  families 
of  Rhode  Island  claim  descent  from  Huguenot  ancestry. 

By  inter-marriage,  the  energ)-,  persistency  and  courage  of  the  Eng- 
lishman uniting  with  the  suavity,  vivacity  and  elegance  of  the  Frenchman 
have  produced  an  element  which  has  affected  our  State  intellectually, 
politically,  financially  and  socially.  We  read  of  the  dispersion  of  the 
Huguenots,  we  know  that  some  of  them  came  to  this  country,  we  may 
even  have  chanced  to  notice  that  they  established  themselves  in  our  own 


S6o  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

State,  but  so  many  other  matters  have  claimed  our  attention  we  have 
failed  to  realize  that  they  became  a  part  of  our  own  people.  This  bit  of 
Huguenot  history  like  so  many  others  of  which  we  read,  seems  at  first 
dim  and  far  away,  but  unlike  the  others,  it  becomes  aglow  with  interest, 
when  we  realize  that  we  can  bring  it  down  to  our  own  times  to  our  own 
lives — better  still — to  our  own  firesides.  Because  we  have  carelessly 
failed  to  gather  up  and  treasure  our  family  traditions,  it  may  surprise  us 
for  the  moment,  to  be  reminded  that  the  blood  of  these  same  Huguenots 
flows  in  our  veins  and  that  to-day  we  are  what  we  are,  because  they  were 
what  they  were. 

Upon  the  breaking  up  of  Frenchtown,  two  prominent  members  of 
the  colony.  Dr.  Pierre  Ayrault  and  Moise  Le  Moine,  decided  to  remain 
and  cast  in  their  fortunes  with  the  English.  The  descendants  of  Dr. 
Ayrault  removed  to  Newport,  where  his  son,  Daniel,  was  prominent  in 
founding  Trinity  Church,  and  the  family  became  identified  with  the  his- 
tory of  that  city.  Among  his  descendants  are  the  Cranstons  and  the 
Gouldens. 

Moise  Le  Moine  continued  to  live  upon  the  farm  which  remained  in 
the  possession  of  his  descendants  down  to  the  present  day;  and  his  son. 
Colonel  Peter  Money,  became  a  leading  and  influential  citizen.  The  name 
was  corrupted,  at  a  very  early  day,  into  Mawney  and  Money.  Of  his 
children,  Elizabeth  married  Joseph  Olney ;  Mercy  married  Thomas  Foy; 
Lydia  married  Dr.  Ephraim  Bowen ;  Mary  married  James  Angell  and 
was  grandmother  of  the  late  Prof.  William  G.  Goddard;  and  Amey  mar- 
ried Dr.  Samuel  Carew.  From  this  family  are  descended  the  Congdons, 
the  Valentines,  the  Wares,  the  Harrises,  the  Olneys,  the  Slaters,  the 
Bowens,  the  Puringtons,  the  Gammells,  the  Iveses,  the  Angells,  the  Pot- 
ters of  South  Kingston,  and  one  branch  of  the  Whipples.  The  Dr.  John 
Money,  who  was  one  of  the  party  that  burned  the  Gmpec,  was  also  the 
grandson  of  this  fine  old  Huguenot  gentleman. 

Later  on,  other  Huguenots,  singly  or  in  groups,  settled  in  Rhode 
Island.  Prominent  among  them  was  Gabriel  Bernon,  a  merchant  of 
Rochelle,  France,  a  man  of  remarkable  attainments,  who  came  to  Boston 
in  1688,  then  to  Oxford,  to  Newport,  to  North  Kingston  and  finally  to 
Providence,  where  he  died  in  1736.  His  house  stood  on  the  lot  containing 
the  Roger  Williams  spring,  on  the  west  side  of  North  Main  street,  nearly 
opposite  St.  John's  Church.  The  Bemons  had  been  a  well-known  family 
in  Europe  since  the  earliest  ages  of  the  French  monarchy,  having  dis- 
tinguished themselves  alike  in  civil  and  military  history.  He  was  active 
in  forming  three  Episcopal  Churches  in  Rhode  Island,  Trinity  in  New- 
port, St.  Paul's  in  Wickford,  and  St.  John's  in  Providence.  We  know 
more  of  him  than  of  anv  other  French   Protestant  who  came  to   New 


THE  HUGUENOTS  .    561 

England,  for  he  was  a  ready  writer  and  carefully  treasured  his  family 
records.  He  left  daughters  only,  and  although  the  family  name  was  lost, 
the  genius  of  the  Huguenot  has  just  as  certainly  been  transmitted  to  suc- 
ceeding generations.  Of  the  children  of  his  first  wife,  a  French  woman 
named  Esther  LeRoy,  Marie  married  Abram  Tourtellot,  also  a  Huguenot ; 
Esther  married  Adam  Powell;  Sara  married  Benjamin  Whipple;  and 
Jean  married  Colonel  William  Coddington.  Gabriel  Demon's  second  wife 
was  Mary,  daughter  of  Thomas  Harris,  of  Providence.  Of  her  daugh- 
ters, Susanna  married  Joseph  Crawford  and  Mary  married  Gideon  Craw- 
ford. From  this  family  are  descended  the  Seaburys  of  Newport  and 
New  London,  Connecticut,  among  whom  is  the  well-known  Bishop  Sea- 
bury  ;  the  Coddingtons  of  Newport,  the  Helmes,  the  Robinsons  and  the 
Carjientcrs  of  Kingston,  the  Powells,  the  Tourtellots,  the  Crawfords,  the 
Dyers  and  the  .Miens  of  Providence. 

Another  prominent  man  was  Gregory  Dexter,  who  came  as  early  as 
1643,  3  personal  friend  of  Roger  Williams.  He  was  a  clergyman  of  whom 
it  was  said  that  "he  was  so  earnest  in  his  ministry  that  he  could  scarcely 
forbear  preaching  whenever  he  came  into  a  house  or  met  with  a  con- 
course of  people  out-of-town,"  and  who  was  pastor  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church  in  1669.  Among  his  descendants  are  the  Fields,  the  Angells,  the 
Fenners,  the  Greenes,  the  Kiltons,  the  Browns,  and  one  branch  of  the 
Olneys. 

Still  other  Huguenots  who  found  a  home  in  Rhode  Island  were 
Pierre  Tourgee,  whose  descendants  are  still  to  be  found  in  Kingston,  and 
whose  family  has  become  well  known.  Judge  Tourgee  being  a  noted 
author,  and  Professor  Eben  Tourgee  being  the  founder  of  the  New 
England  Conservatory  of  Music  in  Boston.  The  original  Tourgee  house 
is  now  standing  (1918) ;  Auguste  Lucas,  who  came  to  Newport  and  whose 
second  wife  was  the  daughter  of  John  Eliot,  the  apostle  to  the  Indians; 
Pierre  Papilion,  who  came  to  Bristol ;  Daniel  Crenelle,  who  came  to 
Portsmouth,  and  then  to  Westerly ;  Francis  Ganeaux,  who  came  to  New 
Rochelle.  New  York,  dying  at  the  age  of  103,  and  whose  grandson.  Dr. 
Stephen  Gano,  was  formerly  pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church ;  Dr. 
Vignon,  w'ho  came  to  Newport ;  and  Daniel  Johonnot,  who  came  to  this 
city  in  1686,  and  who  married  Susanne.  daughter  of  Andre  Sigourney. 
The  name  of  Andre  or  Andrew  has  come  down  for  generations  in  the 
Johonnot  family.  Rufus  Barton,  who  came  to  this  State  from  New  Am- 
sterdam in  1640,  is  said  to  have  been  a  descendant  of  Pierre  Berthon,  also 
a  Huguenot.  If  .so,  then  in  the  fourth  generation,  following  the  male  line 
we  find  General  William  Barton,  the  capturer  of  General  Prescott ;  and 
following  the  female  line,  General  Nathanael  Greene,  two  more  illustrious 

R  I-3t 


562  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

names  which  Rhode  Island  is  proud  to  add  to  the  long  list  of  heroes 
which  goes  to  make  up  her  country's  Roll  of  Honor. 

The  Geoffreys,  the  Jacques,  the  Le  Fevres,  the  Bardines,  the  Segars, 
the  Cabots,  the  Hasbroucks,  the  Champlins,  the  Dalys,  the  Millards,  the 
Coreys,  the  Carters,  the  HuHngs,  the  Tiffanys,  the  Goodwins,  the  Sabins, 
the  Sabres,  the  Mowrys,  the  Motts,  the  Tarboxes,  the  Cornells,  the  Bas- 
setts,  and  many  others  in  Rhode  Island  are  of  Huguenot  descent. 

The  corruption  of  the  French  names  by  the  English,  so  strange  and 
so  curious,  have  been  most  misleading  to  those  who  have  tried  to  trace 
the  various  lines,  and  some  names  have  been  so  changed  as  to  be  scarcely 
recognized  in  their  original  form.  In  the  vernacular  of  those  days  Cham- 
plain  became  Champlin  ;  Targee,  Tourgee  ;  Carre,  Corey ;  Cartier,  Carter  ; 
Maure,  Mowry;  Wilard,  Willard ;  Tourneau,  Turner;  Tebeaux,  Tarbox ; 
Corneille,  Cornell ;  Blanchard,  Blanchard ;  Berthon,  Barton  and  Burton ; 
Souinne,  Sweeny  ;  Bouchet,  Bushee  ;  Daille,  Daly ;  Colline,  Collins  ;  Sabeen, 
Sabin ;  Saberre,  Sabre;  Hamon,  Hammond;  La  Brun,  Brown;  Guilbert, 
Gilbert;  Marchant,  Marchant  and  Merchant;  Le  Roi,  King;  Jacques, 
Jack  and  even  Jackson;  Jerauld,  Ger-ald,  De  La  Noy,  Del'a  noy,  Delano 
and  Noyes ;  De  Le  Hotel,  Doolittle;  and  Tiffane,  Tiffany.  Still  other 
names  underwent  a  double  change,  their  bearers  having  emigrated  first 
to  Holland,  to  England  and  to  Ireland,  and  then  to  America.  The  name 
Hasbrouck  was  originally  spelled  Has-b-r-o-q-u,  then  b-r-o-q-u-e,  then 
b-r-o-u-c-k.  White  was  originally  Le  Blanc,  then  De  Witte.  Field  was 
originally  Des  Champs,  then  Van  Der  Velde ;  Grant  was  originally  Le 
Grand,  then  De  Groot.  The  Bernons,  Ayraults,  Johonnots,  Le  Valleys, 
Le  Dieris,  Girards,  Le  Barons,  Lamberts  and  Tourtellots  with  someothers 
have  preserved  their  names  uncorrupted  down  to  the  present  day. 

So  these  Huguenots  who  came  to  Rhode  Island  hoping  to  find  it  an 
Eden  of  fruitfulness  and  peace,  and  who  suffered  and  endured  that  we 
might  enjoy,  are  none  other  than  our  own  forefathers;  and  a  brief  review 
of  their  story,  so  simple  and  yet  so  sad,  may  bring  back  to  us  the  well-nigh 
forgotten  fact  that  while  so  many  of  us  are  proud  to  bear  the  Rose  of 
England,  the  Thistle  of  Scotland  and  the  Shamrock  of  Ireland,  we  may 
also  emblazon  upon  our  escutcheons  with  equal  pride  and  honor,  the 
Lillies  of  France. 

At  no  distant  day  a  monument  should  be  raised  at  Frenchtown,  in 
North  Kingstown,  in  remembrance  of  this  noble  attempt  to  establish  a 
French  colony  on  Rhode  Island  soil  in  recognition  of  the  fact  that  a 
freedom-loving  people,  devoted  to  religious  liberty,  did  at  last  find  in  the 
institutions  and  government  of  Rhode  Island  the  full  protection  of  their 
principles  and  inherited  rights. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 


RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES 


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CHAPTER  XXXI. 
RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES. 

I  wish  to  consider  some  of  the  historical  backgrounds  of  the  begin- 
nings of  Rhode  Island  and  to  relate  them  particularly  to  certain  great 
movements  in  tiie  history  of  the  Christian  Church ;  movements  of  far- 
reaching  influence  and  on  the  whole  too  little  understood. 

In  its  beginnings,  the  Christian  Oiurch  was  a  thing  apart  and  sum- 
moned men  out  of  what  it  taught  them  was  a  perishing  world  into  fellow- 
ships wholly  disassociated  from  almost  every  aspect  of  contemporaneous 
life.  It  was  the  clear  belief  of  the  early  Church  that  the  world  was 
doomed ;  they  were  waiting  always  for  the  sound  of  the  archangel's 
trump  when  the  heavens  should  be  rolled  back  as  a  fiery  scroll  and  the 
earth  herself  be  reborn  in  a  baptism  of  fire.  Why  then  should  they  con- 
cern themselves  with  the  affairs  of  the  Roman  empire  or  mundane  affairs 
at  all  when  they  were  so  doomed  to  perish?  There  was  thus  no  attempt 
to  establish  any  relation  between  the  Church  and  the  world.  The  world 
scorned  the  Church  till  it  began  to  fear  and  hate  it;  the  Church  looked 
upon  the  world  as  a  doomed  and  perishing  thing.  But  the  world  did  not 
come  to  an  end  and  there  came  a  time  in  the  life  of  the  developing  Church 
when,  whether  or  no,  it  was  compelled  to  come  to  living  terms  with  the 
world. 

How  difficult  all  this  was  we  are  just  beginning  clearly  to  see.  Cer- 
tain French  historians  have  drawn  for  us  the  picture  of  what  they  them- 
selves would  call  the  rapprochement — the  readjustments  of  relationships 
between  the  Church  and  the  world.  That  is,  the  Christian  began  to  be 
a  citizen,  to  carry  his  Christianity  into  his  daily  life  and  to  accept  those 
modifications  in  his  conception  of  Christian  living  which  the  necessities 
of  the  old  world  demanded.  In  tlie  end  both  the  Church  and  the  world 
were  changed ;  the  world  distinctly  for  the  better.  The  Church  was  com- 
pelled to  modify  her  extreme  idealism,  to  become  less  a  thing  apart  and, 
on  the  whole,  to  condescend  from  her  high  estate,  but  she  gained,  on  the 
other  hand,  a  new  vision  of  her  task  and  a  solid  rooting  in  the  soil  of 
history  which  has,  we  may  believe,  more  than  compensated  her  for  her 
loss;  she  began  to  be  an  historical  force.  She  came  in  the  end  to  be  a 
State  Church,  at  once  subduing  the  world  and  being  subdued  by  it.  From 
that  time  on  new  considerations  moved  her,  new  necessities  faced  her. 
She  lived  more  and  more  on  the  outside  in  organizations,  administrations, 
developments  of  offices,  liturgies  and  creeds.  She  did  not,  however, 
wholly  surrender  her  mystic  inner  life,  indeed  one  may  discover  in  St. 


566  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

Augustine  both  those  aspects  of  her  life  and  something  of  the  strife  which 
they  occasioned  even  in  his  own  soul,  for  St.  Augustine  has,  on  the  one 
side,  the  vision  of  an  imperial  Church  inheriting  the  imperial  continuities 
of  the  Roman  empire  and  re-establishing  upon  spiritual  foundations  that 
power  and  glory  to  which  the  world  had  so  long  been  accustomed.  The 
perishing  city  of  Rome  was  to  give  place  to  the  city  of  God,  but  the  city 
of  God  itself  was  to  be  an  organization,  an  administration,  a  principality, 
a  government.  Yet  in  his  own  life  and  teaching  he  never  loses  sight  of 
that  life  of  the  spirit  which,  independent  of  form  and  organization,  relates 
itself  directly  to  God  and  finds  in  its  fellowship  with  Him  its  peace  and 
its  power.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  then  and  there  the  unity  of  the 
Church  was  really  broken.  From  St.  Augustine  to  our  own  time  there  have 
always  been  two  Churches ;  the  Church  of  the  offices,  liturgies,  author- 
ities, possessions,  administrations  ;  the  Church  in  the  world  and  sometimes 
of  the  world,  visible  and  striving  through  the  centuries,  and  the  Church 
of  the  spirit,  mystic,  inner  and  unseen.  There  has  never  been  a  real  and 
entire  reconciliation  between  these  two  aspects  of  the  Christian  Church ; 
one  may  well  doubt  whether  there  ever  will  be  until  the  Church  militant 
has  become  the  Church  triumphant  and  we  are  gathered  together  in  that 
city  which  has  no  temple. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  mediaeval  period  the  external  life  of  the  Church 
grew  hard,  intolerant  and  sterile.  The  Church  had  gained  the  whole 
world ;  she  seemed  in  sore  danger  of  losing  her  own  soul.  The  result  of 
this  was  that  long  before  the  Reformation  devout  souls  everywhere, 
especially  in  the  north,  were  turned  in  upon  themselves.  There  was  a 
great  growth  of  quietism,  mysticism  or  pietism,  as  you  are  minded  to 
call  it.  But  all  these  words  spell  the  same  thing;  they  simply  mean  that 
a  great  many  men  and  women,  grown  tired  of  outer  things,  found  in  their 
immediate  communion  with  God  their  real  religious  life ;  they  did  not 
on  the  whole  greatly  care  what  happened  on  the  outside  as  long  as  they 
kept  their  inner  peace.  They  were  silent  souls  writing,  from  time  to  time, 
books  whose  authorship  is  debated,  such  as  the  Imitation  of  Christ  and 
the  Theologica  Germanica, — books  whose  real  authorship  is  to  be  sought 
in  a  widely  shared  spiritual  temper.  From  time  to  time  they  broke  forth 
into  music,  half-heard,  half-silenced  by  the  din  of  the  world.  Michelet, 
for  example,  has  no  more  moving  passages  than  those  in  which  he  de- 
scribes the  weavers  of  Flanders,  singing  in  their  misery,  and  in  their  songs 
solacing  their  souls. 

We  do  not  know  how  widespread  all  this  was,  but  we  have  reason  to 
believe  that  it  underran  the  whole  of  Northern  Europe  and  when  at  last 
the  Reformation  came  one  may  trace  the  genesis  of  it,  on  its  spiritual  side, 
to  those  great  inner  movements,  this  temper  of  immediate  communion  with 


RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES  567 

God,  independent  of  creed  and  form.  The  Reformed  Church  found  itself 
quite  as  unable  as  the  Apostolic  Church  to  get  on  without  making  terms 
with  the  world,  but  the  explosion  of  it  cleared  the  way  for  the  expression 
of  all  this  hidden  life  which  thereupon  revealed  itself  in  many  ways.  An 
obscure  movement,  always  popular  in  its  character  and  rooted  really  in  the 
deep  things  of  the  spiritual  life,  followed  the  wake  of  the  Reformation 
especially  in  Germany.  It  broke  out  in  the  excesses  of  the  peasants' 
rebellion — the  tragedy  of  the  Lutheran  Reformation  and,  though  he  did 
not  know  it,  the  tragedy  of  Luther's  life — it  found  expression  in  moral 
lawlessness,  it  came  to  a  head  in  the  capture  of  that  city,  but  none  the  less 
the  real  power  of  it  continued  and  it  had  other  far  richer,  truer  and  more 
fruitful  aspects.  As  far  as  we  name  it  at  all  we  call  it  the  Anabaptist 
Movement  and  it  is  not  easily  defined,  but  on  the  whole  it  stood  for  im- 
mediate approach  to  God,  the  loneliness  of  the  soul  in  its  endeavors  after 
salvation,  and  an  extreme  simplification  of  every  ecclesiastical  form.  It 
was  the  parent  of  modern  democracy  on  the  one  side  and  of  soul  liberty 
on  the  other.  It  is  impossible  to  say  how  far  all  this  reached  or  how  in 
the  end  it  came  to  influence  the  English  Reformation.  Puritanism  stood 
for  the  world  side  of  the  Church's  life.  It  was  indeed  impatient  of  Epis- 
copacy, more  than  impatient  of  Catholicism,  and  unspeakably  militant. 
But  after  all  it  tended  to  reproduce  in  its  own  field  just  that  against 
which  it  so  much  protested :  the  dominance  of  ecclesiastical  organizations 
over  the  souls  of  men. 

There  were  those,  therefore,  in  England  who  in  the  face  of  Puritan- 
ism, sought  soul  liberty,  extreme  simplicity  of  Church  organization  and 
a  thoroughgoing  separation  of  the  Church  and  the  world.  These  in  gen- 
eral are  the  English  Baptists  and  Separatists.  There  is  every  reason  to 
believe  that  the  leaders  of  this  movement  came  under  Anabaptist  in- 
fluence. I  believe  that  Brown  did,  I  am  morally  certain  that  John  Clarke 
did  and  that  he  therefore  represents  inner  forces  which  were  from  the 
very  first  always  operative  in  the  Church  and  that  when  he  came  to 
America  he  was  the  meeting  place,  and  one  must  confess  more  or  less 
difficult  incarnation,  of  two  or  three  great  conceptions. 

He  believed  in  soul  liberty,  the  right,  that  is,  of  immediate  access  to 
God  and  the  right  to  determine  one's  whole  life  in  the  light  of  that  com- 
munion. He  believed  in  extreme  simplicity  of  Church  life.  He  believed 
implicitly  in  democracy — I  do  not  of  course  mean  a  party,  but  a  prin-' 
ciple  of  government — and  he  added  to  all  this  a  crowning  virtue:  a 
belief  in  toleration,  that  is,  that  others  should  be  allowed  to  seek  for 
themselves  what  he  claimed  the  right  for  himself.  The  fruits  of  extreme 
separatism  were  not  happy  in  the  beginnings  of  Rhode  Island ;  they  have 
never  been  happy  since.     They  need  constantly  to  be  corrected  and  en- 


568  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

larged  by  other  conceptions  and  to  be  leavened  by  another  temper.  Lib- 
erty is  not  only  living  by  oneself,  it  is  living  with  other  people.  It  is 
always  tested  as  much  by  what  it  is  ready  to  give  up  as  by  what  it  claims. 
To  be  nobly  free  is  to  be  nobly  bound.  It  is  in  the  perfect  law  of  liberty 
that  all  men  are  at  once  emancipated  and  taught  to  obey.  It  is  enough  to 
say  that  even  Roger  Williams  found  himself  compelled  to  come  to  terms 
with  the  world  and  that  he  found  out  that  his  extreme  individualism  would 
hardly  work  out  either  in  Salem  or  at  the  head  of  Narragansett  Bay. 
Men  must  in  the  end  learn  to  live  together.  A  faith  which  makes  it  im- 
possible for  us  to  live  with  other  men  in  peace  has  something  wanting 
in  it.  The  independent  churches,  whether  Baptist  or  Congregational, 
have  paid  a  great  price  for  their  freedom.  Right  and  duty  cannot  be 
divorced  and  true  liberty  is  but  a  change  of  masters.  None  the  less  we 
will  not  forget  our  debt  to  the  men  who  at  such  cost  secured  for  them- 
selves and  for  us  one  of  the  two  great  cornerstones  of  all  freedom  whether 
in  Church  or  State:  the  right,  that  is,  to  stand  face  to  face  with  God,  to 
seek  the  illumination  of  His  light  in  our  consciences  and,  having  seen 
that  light,  to  walk  in  it. 

Churches  and  religious  societies  in  Rhode  Island  have  received  un- 
usual attention  from  historical  writers.  Several  reasons  are  apparent. 
The  small  geographical  area  and  the  small  number  of  people  involved 
have  made  a  microscopic  examination  possible.  Much  has  been  written 
to  prove  or  disprove  the  attitude  of  Roger  Williams  as  a  proselyte  from 
Puritanism  to  the  Baptist  faith  and  ceremonials.  Much  more  debate  has 
been  denominational  as  to  the  priority  of  the  Newport  and  Providence 
churches.  Some  writers  have  shown  us  how  far  back  in  the  historic  past 
of  religious  reformations  in  Italy,  Germany,  France,  Holland  or  England, 
Baptists,  Quakers,  Lutherans,  Mennonites,  Churchmen  and  Congregation- 
alists  of  Rhode  Island  began  their  historic  existence.  As  the  volumes  we 
are  now  writing  are  dealing  with  Rhode  Island  history  particularly,  it  is 
our  purpose  to  show  what  religious  societies  have  been  established,  what 
their  spirit  and  what  they  have  done  in  solving  our  problems  of  Church 
and  State,  leaving  to  other  historical  experts  the  solution  of  origins  and 
propaganda. 

The  founders  and  early  settlers  of  our  Rhode  Island  towns  were  all 
of  English  origin  and  birthright.  They  inherited  racial  characteristics, 
traditions  and  instincts.  All  of  them  were  born  and  reared  under  the 
formative  agencies  and  influences  of  the  later  years  of  the  reign  of 
Queen  Elizabeth,  the  reign  of  James  the  First,  and  the  early  years  of 
Charles  the  First.  It  would  be  a  travesty  of  judgment  to  style  the  cen- 
tury from  1550  to  1650  a  distinctly  religious  age.  It  was  not.  Religion, 
pure  and  undefiled,  the  religion  of  Jesus,  had  little  sway  over  the  minds 


RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES  569 

and  hearts  of  men  and  women  in  Western  Europe.  It  was  an  era  of 
passion,  of  persecution,  of  theological  controversy,  in  which  faith,  hope 
and  love  had  little  practical  sway.  Like  the  Arian  controversy,  which  rent 
the  early  church  in  twain,  over  Homos  and  Homoios,  so,  on  the  little 
English  Island,  the  controversy  waxed  hot,  passions  were  evoked,  martyr 
hlood  shed  and  martyr  fires  burned  over  forms  and  ceremonials,  which 
had  little  or  no  religious  significance  or  moral  value.  "For  modes  of 
faith"  these  "graceless  zealots"  fought.  To  declare  the  total  absence  of 
religion  would  be  a  fiat  denial  of  the  noblest  of  human  instincts.  What 
did  exist  was  the  hopeful  element  in  the  advancement  of  human  society 
towards  the  goal  of  its  highest  achievement,  the  spirit  to  fight  for  en- 
franchisement of  mind  and  soul.  The  contest  primarily  centered  about 
personal,  political  and  intellectual  freedom,  and  so  far  as  spiritual  ideal- 
ism inspired  and  controlled  the  movement,  the  age  may  be  called  semi- 
religious  and  the  various  organizations  and  societies  that  shared  in  the 
revolt  against  autocracy  and  prelacy  took  shape  and  recognition  as  semi- 
religious  bodies.  Whatever  inhered  in  the  life  of  the  people  as  an  ex- 
pression of  their  new  found  dogmas  or  as  a  relic  of  their  old  beliefs 
and  practices,  and  whatever  of  new  hopes  and  purposes  of  a  spiritual 
character  either  in  heart  or  in  ceremonial,  the  Pilgrims  and  Puritans  and 
their  followers  possessed,  they  brought  with  them  from  English  to  be 
transjilanted  into  New  England  soil.  In  England,  the  seat  of  the  contro- 
versy, the  resultant  was  a  compromise  in  the  constitution,  the  doctrines 
and  services  of  the  Church  and  a  broader  and  safer  democracy  for  the 
people,  as  between  the  Anglican  and  the  Roman  theologies  and  the  politi- 
cal ideals  of  the  two  great  bodies.  In  the  freer  life  of  a  new  people  in  a 
new  land,  ceremonials  had  little  to  satisfy  the  conditions  of  poverty  and 
struggle,  and  a  simple  plain  democracy  in  State  and  Church  slowly  took 
shape  and  finality  of  form.  Old  Testament  tlieology  and  Hebrew  inter- 
pretations of  justice  and  judgment  were  adopted  literally  in  preaching 
and  in  civil  government.  The  Mosaic  Code  was  transferred  from  Jeru- 
salem to  Boston  and  the  Puritan  clergy  exercised  the  prerogatives  of  the 
Jewish  rabbis  in  judgments,  involving  life  and  death.  In  sharp  contrast 
to  the  Hebrew  message  of  an  eye  for  an  eye,  a  life  for  a  life,  stood  out 
the  bold  excesses  of  Morton  at  Merry  Mount  who  masqueraded  as  a 
martyr  to  the  orthodoxy  of  the  "Nine  Worthies  of  New  Canaan,"  led  by 
"Captain  Shrimp,"  Myles  Standish.  William  Blackstone,  the  first  real 
English  occupant  of  Rhode  Island,  was  a  religious  teacher  of  the  English 
Church  of  1630, — as  pious  as  his  times  and  circumstances  would  allow. 
His  almost  hermit  life  at  .Study  Hill  on  the  Blackstone  river,  led  for  years 
in  seclusion,  and  for  forty  years  an  ascetic  and  religious  recluse,  suggests 
a  typical  religionist  of  the  Middle  Ages,  in  the  occupation  of  monastic 


S70  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

reveries  and  revelations.  His  faith  and  works  were  limited  to  his  narrow 
possessions  and  narrower  mode  of  thought  and  life. 

In  1636,  Roger  Williams  and  a  few  companions  came  into  view  at 
Providence.  On  his  arrival  at  Boston  in  163 1,  he  is  named  as  a  candidate 
to  occupy  the  pulpit  of  the  First  Church,  during  the  absence  of  the  min- 
ister, Rev.  John  Wilson,  in  England.  The  reputation  of  an  erroneous 
and  an  erratic  teacher  had  preceded  him  and  Mr.  Williams  finds  the  door 
of  the  old  Boston  meeting  house  at  the  head  of  State  and  Congress 
streets  closed  against  his  ready  entrance,  and  he  goes  to  Plymouth  to  be 
an  assistant  to  pastor  Smith,  where  he  stays  as  a  teacher  and  preacher 
for  about  three  years.  Leaving  Plymouth  in  1634,  Mr.  Williams  goes  to 
the  Puritan  Church  of  Salem,  Massachusetts,  where  the  arch-Puritan 
Endicott  holds  his  strong  grip  on  the  theology  and  politics  of  the  Bay 
Colony.  Puritan  antecedents  and  five  years  ministration  at  Plymouth  and 
Salem  are  proof  conclusive  that  Mr.  Williams  was  a  simon-pure  Puritan 
when  he  began  his  Providence  mission.  His  membership  in  the  Salem 
Congregational  Puritan  Church  has  never  been  questioned  and  there  is  no 
evidence  that  that  relation  was  severed  except  by  death.  The  distinctive 
features  of  Mr.  Williams'  preaching  in  Massachusetts  were  polemic  and 
disruptive  in  their  application  to  civil  society.  It  was  as  minister  of  the 
Salem  Congregational  Church  that  Mr.  Williams  made  his  reputation  as 
a  controversialist  and  from  which  he  was  separated,  on  his  expulsion  from 
the  Bay  Colony.  In  order  to  understand  later  on-goings  at  Providence 
subsequent  to  1636,  we  must  reveal  conditions  civil  and  ecclesiastical  at 
Salem,  for  it  was  at  Salem  that  the  disruptive  and  disjunctive  forces  that 
operated  at  Providence  were  first  set  in  motion. 

Mr.  Williams  was  twenty-nine  years  of  age  when  he  was  formally 
installed  as  teacher  of  the  Salem  Church,  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by 
the  death  of  Rev.  Mr.  Skelton,  even  against  the  protests  of  the  magis- 
trates of  the  Bay  Colony.  The  Salem  Church  now  becomes  the  storm 
center  of  the  Colony,  as  their  teacher  hurled  his  opinions  as  bolts  of 
wrath  against  the  Magistrates  and  Churches.  The  Colony  had  just  es- 
caped threatened  ruin,  resulting  from  charges  presented  against  it  at 
London  and  fears  were  still  entertained  of  a  fresh  attack  on  the  Colonial 
Charter,  when  a  manuscript  document  was  found  in  Mr.  Williams'  posses- 
sion, penned  at  Plymouth,  attacking  the  government  for  its  home  policies 
and  laws.  Confronted  with  the  evidence,  Mr.  Williams  confessed  his 
error  and  consigned  the  manuscript  to  the  flames.  As  Mr.  Williams  was 
now  the  head  of  the  Salem  First  Church  with  Endicott  as  a  leading  mem- 
ber and  an  ultra  in  politics,  he  was  emboldened  "with  teaching  publicly 
against  the  King's  Patent"  and  against  the  sin  of  "claiming  right  thereby 
to  this  country,  &c.,"  and  with  maintaining  "that  a  magistrate  ought  not 


RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES  571 

to  tender  an  oath  to  an  unregenerate  person,"  with  other  charges  of  a 
similar  nature.  Many  members  of  the  Salem  Church  supported  Mr. 
Williams  in  his  attacks  on  the  Bay  Colony  and  its  magistrates,  which  led 
the  next  General  Court  to  reject  a  petition  of  Salem  for  a  grant  of  land. 
This  act  led  Mr.  Williams  to  cause  his  church  at  Salem  "to  write  to  other 
churches  to  admonish  the  magistrates  of  this  as  a  heinous  sin,  and  like- 
wise the  deputies."  Little  attention  was  given  to  the  letter,  when  Mr. 
Williams  addressed  his  own  church,  exhorting  them  to  renounce  all  com- 
munion with  the  other  churches  of  the  Colony.  The  next  General  Court, 
September  2,  1635,  unseated  the  Salem  deputies  until  such  time  as  their 
constituents  should  apologize  for  having  "exceedingly  reproached  and 
villified  the  Magistrates  and  Churches."  The  Salem  Church  and  people 
finding  themselves  excluded  from  Colonial  relations,  made  haste  to  render 
due  apologies  for  their  contumacy.  Mr.  Williams,  their  teacher,  refused 
to  acknowledge  his  errors,  and  was  banished  for  cause  and  left  Salem. 

Rev.  Hugh  Peters,  his  successor,  as  teacher  of  the  Salem  Church, 
began  at  once  to  restore  the  Church  to  loyalty  to  the  Colony  and  to  har- 
monious relations  with  sister  churches  and  soon  won  the  people  in  large 
measure  to  a  right  attitude  in  civil  things.  He  quoted  the  covenant  of  the 
Church  which  declared :  "We  do  hereby  promise  to  carry  ourselves  in 
all  lawful  obedience  to  those  that  are  over  us  in  Church  and  Common- 
wealth, knowing  how  well  pleasing  it  will  be  to  the  Lord  that  they  should 
have  encouragement." 

As  might  be  expected,  Mr.  Williams'  teachings  at  Salem  gained  for 
him  some  friends  and  followers,  among  whom  were  Joshua  Verin  and 
wife,  Thomas  Angell,  John  Greene,  Ezekiel  Holliman,  William  James, 
John  Throckmorton,  Francis  Weston,  William  Wickenden,  Thomas  Olney, 
William  Harris,  Stukeley  Westcott  and  others,  most  of  whom  were  mem- 
bers with  Mr.  Williams  of  the  First  Church.  These  followed  him  to 
Providence,  which  now  became  the  storm  centre  of  the  New  England 
Colonies.  Rev.  Hugh  Peters  of  the  Salem  Church,  "by  that  church's 
order  and  in  their  name,"  wrote  to  the  church  in  Dorchester,  Massachu- 
setts, in  order  to  "have  such  noted  as  disobey  the  truth,"  giving  the  names 
of  ten  persons,  who  had  received  "the  great  censure"  of  his  church, 
"wholly  refusing  to  hear  the  church,  denying  the  churches  in  the  Bay  to 
be  true  churches."  These  persons  were  Roger  Williams  and  wife,  John 
Throckmorton  and  wife,  Thomas  Olney  and  wife,  Stukeley  Westcott  and 
wife,  Mary  Holliman  and  widow  Reeves,  all  of  whom,  save  two,  he  says 
were  rebaptized,  supposedly  at  Providence.  This  letter  of  Mr.  Peters  to 
the  Puritan  Church  in  Dorchester  bears  date,  July  i,  1639.  The  persons 
named  were  Mr.  Williams'  supporters  at  Salem  and  were  among  those 
specially  disobedient  to  their  church  covenant  and  disloyal  to  the  Magis- 


5/2  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

trates  and  Churches  of  their  order  in  the  Bay  Colony.  Concerning  the 
two,  not  rebaptized,  we  are  left  in  doubt.  According  to  Winthrop,  Mr. 
Williams  was  not  one  of  the  two. 

The  event  of  the  baptism  by  immersion  of  Roger  Williams  and  eleven 
others,  at  Providence,  is  referred  to  in  Winthrop's  Journal,  under  date 
of  March  i6,  1639,  as  follows:  "At  Providence  things  grew  still  worse, 
for  a  sister  of  Mrs.  Hutchinson,  the  wife  of  one  Scott  (Richard)  being 
infected  with  Anabaptistry  and  going  last  year  (1639)  to  live  at  Provi- 
dence, Mr.  Williams  was  taken  or  rather  emboldened  by  her  to  make  open 
profession  thereof  and  accordingly  was  rebaptized  by  one  Holyman,  a 
poor  man  late  of  Salem.  Then  Mr.  Williams  rebaptized  him  and  ten 
more." 

It  is  most  unfortunate  for  the  cause  of  exact  historic  truth  that  there 
is  not  a  vestige  of  local  records,  concerning  an  event  which  has  been  made 
to  cut  so  large  a  figure  in  Baptist  annals.  Governor  Winthrop  and  Rev. 
Hugh  Peters,  of  Saliem,  being  our  only  recorders.  Mr.  Williams  makes 
no  reference  to  the  event,  except  to  deny  the  validity  of  the  act  of  baptism 
as  non-Apostolic  and  to  withdraw  from  an  ecclesiastical  connection  with 
the  Salem  malcontents  at  Providence.  Richard  Scott,  who  was  a  Baptist 
and  afterwards  a  Quaker,  writing  of  Mr.  Williams,  in  1678  says:  "I 
walked  with  him  in  Baptists'  way  about  three  or  four  months,  *  *  * 
in  which  time  he  broke  from  this  Society,  and  declared  at  large  the  ground 
and  reason  for  it ;  that  their  baptism  could  not  be  right  because  it  was 
not  administered  by  an  Apostle.  After  he  set  upon  a  way  of  seeking, 
with  two  or  three  of  them  that  had  dissented  with  him,  by  way  of  preach- 
ing and  praying ;  and  there  he  continued  a  year  or  two  till  two  of  the 
three  left  him." 

By  common  consent,  the  baptismal  event  that  took  place  on  the  banks 
of  the  Moshassuck  was  rebaptism  by  imtncrsion  or  plunging.  It  is  well 
known  that  baptism  by  immersion  was  common  in  all  the  early  churches, 
including  the  Roman  Catholic,  Episcopal  and  Congregational.  In  all  the 
Colonies,  where  Episcopal  Churches  existed,  baptismi  by  immersion  was 
preferred  by  adults.  George  Whitefield,  an  Episcopalian,  and  Dr.  Mc- 
Sparran,  a  missionary  of  that  church  in  the  ^^arragansett  country,  often 
baptized  by  immersion.  The  latter  refers  to  the  immersion  of  Daniel 
Updike,  an  attorney  general  of  the  Colony.  The  baptism  in  the  Moshas- 
suck was  a  Christian  but  not  a  distinctively  denominational  rite  of  Bap- 
tists and  constituted  no  recognition  of  a  new  order  in  religious  life  and 
thought.  The  men  and  women  were  still  Puritan  Congregationalists,  and 
members  of  the  Salem  church,  as  no  new  church  was  organized  at  Prov- 
idence. The  exact  date  is  unknown,  but  the  year  was  probably  1639.  At 
the  time  of  their  immersion,  most  if  not  all  of  these  persons  were  mem- 


RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES  573 

bers  of  the  Congregational  Cliurch  at  Salem.  The  ceremony  of  immer- 
sion did  not  dissever  their  relations  with  the  Church,  of  which  they  were 
members,  from  the  fact  that  the  Congregational  Church  has  always 
rect)gnized  the  validity  of  immersion.  Conseciuently  these  persons  were 
still  members  of  the  Bay  churches,  evidence  of  which  appears  in  the  letter 
of  Rev.  Hugh  Peters,  dated  July,  1639,  after  the  ceremony  at  Providence, 
censuring  but  not  excommunicating  the  members.  P.y  accepting  and 
adopting  another  form  of  baptism,  they  did  not  separate  from  the  Salem 
communion  and  the  Salem  Church  records  are  free  from  any  act  separ- 
ating Mr.  Williams  and  his  friends  from  connection  with  and  moral 
allegiance  to  the  old  Salem  Puritan  Church.  As  Judge  Staples  well  de- 
clares (in  "Annals  of  Providence,"  p.  404),  "these  persons  could  not  form 
themselves  into  a  church  of  the  faith  and  order  of  the  Bay  Colony 
Church,  until  dismis.sed  from  it;  and  after  such  dismissal  some  covenant 
or  agreement  among  themselves  was  necessary  in  order  to  effect  it.  The 
form  of  baptism  did  not  dissolve  covenant  relations  with  the  Salem 
Church." 

Concerning  the  persons  participating  in  this  rebaptismal  event,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Moshassuck,  it  is  impossible  to  make  a  worthy  historical 
statement.  In  the  absence  of  records,  several  religious  experts  have  at- 
tempted to  make  a  catalogue  of  what  they  consider  the  original  Baptists 
of  Providence.  As  no  two  of  these  lists  agree  and  as  some  eliminate 
the  female  element  in  the  group,  it  is  sufficient  in  this  connection  to  state 
that  no  one  of  them  is  correct.  Backus  names  Roger  Williams,  Ezekiel 
Holliman,  William  Arnold,  William  Harris,  Stukeley  Westcott,  John 
Greene,  Richard  Waterman,  Thomas  James,  Robert  Cole,  William  Car- 
penter, Francis  Weston  and  Thomas  Olney.  It  is  evident  that  Mr.  Backus 
did  not  consult  Mr.  Peters  in  constructing  his  list  and  that  other  church 
builders  have  selected  their  material  from  various  sources,  no  one  of 
which  is  justified  by  the  facts  or  rather  the  want  of  facts.  As  to  one, 
Roger  Williams,  there  can  be  no  doubt,  for  by  the  pen  of  four  writers 
the  fact  is  made  sure.  The  latest  testimony  added  to  those  of  Winthrop, 
Peters  and  Scott,  is  that  of  Governor  Coddington,  who  wrote :  "I  have 
known  him  about  fifty  years;  a  mere  weathercock,  constant  only  in  in- 
constancy. *  *  *  One  time  for  water  baptism,  men  and  women  must 
be  plimged  into  the  water,  and  then  threw  it  all  down  again." 

It  is  equally  unhistoric  to  state  that  a  church,  a  religious  society,  or 
any  other  form  of  organization  was  covenanted  and  established  at  Provi- 
dence by  the  Salem  contingent.  Not  a  particle  of  evidence  exists  on  which 
to  base  a  reliable  declaration.  In  early  Colonial  days  the  church  was  the 
foster-mother  of  the  town  and  antedated  the  town  organization.  In  fact, 
the  town  was  the  civil  expression  of  the  religious  concepts  of  the  people. 


574  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

who  framed  its  constitution  and  made  its  laws.  The  church  was  never 
a  by-product  but  a  creator  of  products  and  by-products.  As  late  as 
1667,  the  town  of  Swansea,  in  Plymouth  Colony,  took  shape  and  form 
under  the  advisory  mind  of  the  Baptist  Church  organized  in  1663,  by 
Rev.  John  Myles.  Mr.  Willett  and  Mr.  Brown  took  no  forward  act  in 
the  incorporation  of  Swansea  until  such  act  had  been  endorsed  by  the 
John  Myles  Baptist  Church.  In  fact  the  church  and  town  records  are 
found  intermingled  in  the  same  record  book,  so  much  so  that  it  is  some- 
times impossible  to  tell  whether  the  record  relates  to  an  act  of  the  town 
or  the  church.  The  church  and  its  officers  took  the  lead  and  the  town 
built  thie  meeting  house  and  supported  the  church.  Providence  has  pre- 
served some  town  records,  whose  dates,  the  earlier,  are  beyond  discovery 
except  by  contemporary  writings,  but  in  no  case  is  there  the  refterence  to 
a  church  or  of  a  body  save  the  proprietary  which  came  into  being  in 
1638.  The  most  diligent  search  for  some  evidence  of  a  church  covenant, 
a  church  organization,  a  religious  society,  a  worshipful  body  with  an 
ordained  or  an  unordained  leader,  has  failed  to  find  anything  worthy  the 
name  of  history.  The  men  who  have  attempted  to  construct  a  church,  a 
pastorate  and  a  continuous  worship  at  Providence,  from  the  single  event 
of  a  ceremonial  of  immersion,  capable  of  a  double  interpretation,  are 
certainly  the  most  ingenious  ecclesiastical  constructive  scientists,  outrival- 
ling  Cuvier  in  his  wonderful  anatomic  creations. 

Rev.  John  Callender,  a  Baptist  clergyman,  born  about  twenty-three 
years  after  Mr.  Williams'  death,  author  of  the  Rhode  Island  Centennial 
Historical  Discourse,  writing  in  1736,  states  that  Mr.  Williams  renounced 
Anabaptist  opinions  and  "turned  Seeker,  i.  c,  to  wait  for  new  Apostles 
to  restore  Christianity.  He  believed  the  Christian  Religion  to  have  been 
so  corrupted  and  disfigured  in  what  he  called  the  'Apostasy,  as  that  there 
was  no  ministry  of  an  ordinary  vocation  left  in  the  Church  but  prophecy,' 
and  that  there  was  need  of  a  special  commission  to  restore  the  mode  of 
worship,  according  to  the  original  institution."  Dr.  Neale,  1678-1742,  in 
his  History  of  New  England,  wrote:  "His  church  hereupon  crumbled 
to  pieces,  every  one  following  his  own  fancy  and  the  worship  of  God 
came  to  be  generally  neglected."  Callender  adds:  "The  most  ancient  in- 
habitants now  alive,  some  of  them  above  eighty  years,  who  personally 
knew  Mr.  Williams,  and  were  well  acquainted  with  many  of  the  original 
settlers,  never  heard  that  Mr.  Williams  formed  the  Baptist  Church  there 
(at  Providence),  but  always  understood  that  Mr.  (Chad)  Brown,  Mr. 
(William)  Wickenden,  Mr.  (Gregory)  Dexter,  Mr.  (Thomas)  Olney, 
Mr.  (Pardon)  Tillinghast,  &c."  Moses  Brown,  a  descendant  of  Chad 
Brown,  a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church  that  was  later  organized  at 
Providence  of  which  he  was  a  lay-preacher,  confirms  the  position  of  Mr. 


RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES  575 

Callender,  writing  to  Prof.  J.  D.  Knowles,  of  Newton,  Massachusetts,  in 
1830. 

The  evidence  that  the  group  of  rcbaptized  persons  at  Providence 
soon  "crumbled"  into  diverse  units  is  evident  on  every  page  of  Provi- 
dence history  for  half  a  century.  Westcott,  HoUiman,  Greene,  Cole,  Car- 
penter, Field,  Harris,  Scott,  Arnold,  Throckmorton,  Olney,  separate  on 
local  issues,  land  grievances  and  personal  idiosyncrasies.  Magistracy  was 
flouted  and  individualism  often  ended  in  fistic  encounters  or  community 
quarrels.  Staples  says :  "The  great  liberty  which  all  enjoyed  was  abused 
by  some  to  licentiousness.  *  *  *  Some  claimed  the  right  to  do,  with 
impunity,  whatever  conscience  dictated."  Mr.  Williams  does  not  manifest 
the  distinctive  qualities  of  a  religionist  or  a  teacher  of  any  cult  nor  does 
he  exercise  the  quality  of  leadership  in  the  establishment  of  a  church  as 
did  the  founders  of  the  other  colonies.  He  seems  for  a  time  to  have  held 
meetings  in  his  own  house,  but  we  have  no  intimation  as  to  their  character. 
Callender  states  that  "Mr.  Williams  used  to  ui^hold  a  public  worship,  but 
not  weekly."  In  1643,  Mr.  Williams  was  announced  in  London  as  the 
Father  of  the  new  cult,  styled  "Seekers." 

In  this  new  role  of  an  agnostic,  Mr.  Williams  was  now  "a  free  lance" 
to  enter  any  of  the  lists  that  knight-errantry  may  present.  He  was  an 
independent  of  independents,  having  cancelled  all  obligations  to  ortho- 
doxy, and  free  to  choose  his  path  of  religious  service.  He  was  not  versed 
in  leadership  hence  he  could  not  found  or  build.  He  could  fight  with  his 
pen  as  was  clearly  shown  in  the  Bay  Colony.  There  he  was  a  polemic, 
not  a  reformer.  A  reformer  attacks  ancient  evils  and  stays  in  the  fight 
until  the  contest  is  won.  Mr.  Williams  was  wanting  in  the  keen  sense  of 
evils  that  demanded  removal,  and  also  in  the  staying  quality  that  awards 
and  rewards  victory.  He  set  no  value  on  diplomacy  as  an  art  in  spiritual 
warfare.  His  great  forte  seems  to  have  been  to  worry  those  who  were 
trying  to  fight  Satan  in  what  they  thought  a  godly  way.  His  first  fight  in 
Rhode  Island  was  a  frenzied  attack  on  Samuel  Gorton  of  Warwick,  whom 
he  charges  with  "bewitching  and  bemadding  poor  Providence,  both  with 
his  unclean  and  foul  censures  of  all  the  ministers  of  this  country  *  * 
*  and  also  denying  all  visible  and  external  ordinances  in  depth  of  famil- 
ism."  How  devils  must  have  roared  at  this  discharge  from  the  mouth  of 
the  man  who  had  poured  all  the  vials  of  his  spleen  on  the  churches  and 
clergy  of  the  Bay  and  who  had  just  denied  all  ceremonials  and  declared 
religious  functions  intolerable.  In  1644  Mr.  Williams  published  in  Lon- 
don, "The  Bloody  Tenent  of  Persecution  for  the  Cause  of  Conscience" — 
an  academic  discussion  of  conscience  liberty  in  the  form  of  a  dialogue 
between  Truth  and  Peace.  This  book  was  answered  by  Rev.  John  Cotton 
of  Boston  (1647)  '"  "The  Bloody  Tenent  Washed  and  Made  White  in 


5/6  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

the  Blood  of  the  Lamb."  Mr.  Williams  rejoins  in  "The  Bloody  Tenent 
Made  Yet  More  Bloody  by  Mr.  Cotton's  Endeavor  to  Wash  it  White." 
In  such  a  wordy  warfare,  Mr.  Williams  is  seen  at  his  best,  for  he  was  an 
expert  in  expletives  and  well  equipped  with  the  theories  and  loosely 
jointed  doctrines  of  a  licentious  conscience  liberty,  which,  as  illustrated 
at  Providence,  afforded  neither  civil  or  religious  liberty  of  a  stable  char- 
acter. Mr.  Williams'  fully  developed  character  as  a  polemic  appears  in 
his  treatise  on  Quakerism,  styled  "George  Fox  Digged  out  of  his  Bur- 
rowes"  (Boston,  1676).  He  was  now  fully  seventy  years  of  age — a  period 
when  usually  the  earlier  impulses  and  immature  judgments  of  life  have 
become  regulated  by  experience,  and  the  sharp  edge  of  controversy  dulled 
by  the  kindlier  sympathies  and  the  more  humanized  charity  of  Christian 
brotherhood.  But  Mr.  Williams  shows  no  change  in  his  attack  on  Quak- 
erism in  the  seventies  than  in  his  violent  attacks  on  Puritanism  in  the 
thirties.  He  maintains  a  consistent  mental  attitude  coupled  with  a  sin- 
gular moral  obliquity,  which  John  Quincy  Adams  characterized  as  "con- 
scientiously contentious."  Mr.  William  B.  Weeden  calls  his  writings  as 
"the  vagaries  of  his  individual  will."  Judge  Thomas  Durfee  writes : 
"Historians  urge  that  he  was  eccentric,  pugnacious,  persistent,  trouble- 
some ;  undoubtedly  he  was."  Prof.  Masson  calls  Mr.  Williams,  "the  arch- 
individualist."  So  pronounced  were  these  qualities  that  he  won  the  en- 
mity of  nearly  all  of  those  who  were  associated  with  him  in  the  fellow- 
ship of  founding  of  the  town  as  well  as  the  wide  separation  of  those  who 
came  from  Salem  as  his  followers.  John  Throckmorton  and  wife  of 
Salem  were  in  Providence  in  1639,  were  rebaptized  by  Mr.  Williams,  and 
with  Joshua  Verin  and  wife  were  Mr.  Williams'  nearest  neighbors. 
Friendly  relations  soon  ceased  and  enmity  was  aroused  which  continued 
for  life.  In  1672  Mr.  Throckmorton  wrote  to  Mr.  Williams  three  sharp 
letters,  upbraiding  him  for  his  letter  to  George  Fox.  In  one  of  these 
letters  he  advises  Williams  to  provide  an  armor  of  proof  as  Goliath  did, 
"for  George  Fox  is  furnished  with  the  armour  that  thou  hast  no  skill  to 
make  use  of ;  having  also  the  sword  of  the  spirit  to  cut  down  they  vain 
imaginings."  Palfrey  writes  of  "Mr.  Williams'  restless  career."  The  end 
to  which  this  discussion  leads  after  a  painstaking  examination  of  all 
available  records  and  evidence  is  that  Roger  Williams  did  not  become  a 
religious  leader  at  Providence ;  that  a  Baptist  Church  was  not  organized 
and  founded  except  as  stated  by  Callender;  that  on  Mr.  Williams'  return 
from  England  in  1644,  he  took  up  his  residence  at  Narragansett  and  ac- 
cording to  Palfrey  (Vol.  I,  p.  345),  went  into  partnership  with  one  Wil- 
cox, in  trade  with  the  Narragansett  Indians,  expecting  thereby  to  become 
rich.  Here  he  remained  until  his  voyage  to  London  with  Dr.  John  Clarke 
in  1652^53.    From  his  adoption  of  Seekerism,  Mr.  Williams  ceased  to  be 


LOCATION  OF  FIRST  SUNDAY  SCHOOL  IN  AMERICA 
Now  Occupied  by  Lee  Building.  Pawtucket 


RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES  577 

an  influential  factor  in  the  religious  life  of  Rhode  Island.  The  story  of 
the  bickerings,  the  alienations  and  the  breaking  up  of  the  com])any  of 
first  settlers  at  Providence  is  too  pathetic  to  be  told  in  detail,  and  serves 
to  show  that  to  Mr.  Williams  never  can  be  accorded  the  title  of  a  religious 
leader,  or  of  a  founder  even  of  a  religious  society,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
incredible  relations  of  a  pastor  of  a  Baptist  church,  the  first  in  America. 

That  the  Baptist  Church  of  Providence  is  entitled  to  be  called  the 
first  in  the  town,  there  can  be  no  question.  The  date  of  its  organization 
as  a  church  will  never  be  solved,  for  the  town  records  are  absolutely  silent 
on  matters  of  church  or  religious  history,  and  a  diligent  search  for 
church  records  for  two  centuries  has  been  in  vain.  One  of  the  ministers 
of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  Rev.  John  Stamford,  about  1785,  made  dili- 
gent search  for  old  records  of  the  church  foundations,  and  has  entered 
as  the  Qerk's  Record  that  the  search  for  early  data  was  in  vain.  Mr. 
Callcnder  states  that  Chad  Browne,  William  Wickenden,  Cregory  Dexter, 
Thomas  Olney  and  Pardon  Tillinghast  were  the  reputed  founders  of  the 
church.  Moses  Brown,  writing  in  1830,  states  his  belief  that  his  ancestor, 
Qiad  Browne,  was  the  first  lay-teacher  or  minister  of  the  Baptists  at 
Providence.  Mr.  Brown  died  in  1665.  John  Rowland  agrees  with  Moses 
Brown  as  to  the  first  pastor, — Chad  Browne.  Dr.  Goodwin  endorses  this 
view.  Callender  is  authority  for  the  statement  that  "about  the  year  1653 
or  1654,  there  was  a  division  in  the  Baptist  Church  at  Providence,  about 
the  right  of  laying  on  of  hands,  which  some  pleaded  for  as  essentially 
necessary  to  church  communion,  and  the  others  would  leave  indifferent; 
Hereupon  they  walked  in  two  churches,  one  under  Mr.  C.  Browne,  Mr. 
Wichenden,  &c.,  the  other  under  Mr.  Thomas  Olney."  The  Olney  church 
continued  until  about  1718,  when  it  was  dissolved,  the  principle  of  laying 
on  hands  being  adopted  generally.  According  to  Armitage,  there  were 
four  elders  in  the  Baptist  Church  prior  to  the  separation,  Browne,  Wick- 
enden, Olney  and  Dexter. 

In  1681,  Pardon  Tillinghast,  who  came  to  Providence  in  1646,  was 
the  minister  or  elder  of  the  Baptist  Church,  continuing  in  office  until  his 
death.  On  April  14,  171 1,  he  deeded  his  house  called  the  Baptist  meet- 
ing house,  situated  between  the  Town  street  and  the  salt  water,  together 
with  the  lot  whereon  said  meeting  house  stood,  to  the  Baptist  Oiurch  and 
their  successors  for  "the  Christian  love,  gtxid^will  and  affection,  which  I 
bear  to  the  Church  of  Christ  in  said  Providence,  which  I  am  in  fellowship 
with  and  have  the  care  of  as  Elder  of  the  said  Church."  In  a  memor- 
andum in  the  deed  he  declares,  "By  the  same  Faith  and  order  I  do  intend 
*  *  *  such  as  do  truly  believe  and  practice  the  Six  Principles  of  the 
Doctrine  of  Christ  mentioned  Heb.  VI.,  2,  such  as  after  their  manifesta- 

R  1—37 


578  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

tion  of  repentance  and  faith  are  baptized  in  water  and  have  hands  laid  on 
them."  This  meeting  house,  built  and  owned  by  Elder  Tillinghast,  was 
the  first  house  of  public  worship  in  Providence  and  was  erected  on  the 
west  side  of  North  Main  (Town)  street,  at  the  foot  of  Star  street,  about 
1700.  A  larger  meeting  house,  forty  feet  by  forty,  was  raised  on  the  same 
lot,  on  May  30,  1726,  where  the  First  Baptist  Church  worshipped,  until 
the  occupancy  of  the  present  beautiful  and  commodious  house  of  worship, 
which  was  dedicated  on  May  28,  1775,  for  the  public  worship  of  God  "and 
to  hold  commencements  in." 

We  have  now  reached  the  point  of  declaring  that  the  first  church  in 
the  Colony  of  Rhode  Island  was  organized  at  Portsmouth,  in  Aquidneck, 
in  1638,  and  was  the  first  Congregational  Church  in  America,  that  the 
second  church  in  the  Colony  was  organized  at  Newport  in  1639,  and  that 
Dr.  John  Clarke  was  the  minister  to  both  churches.  Writing  in  1738,  Rev. 
John  Callender,  minister  of  the  John  Clarke  Memorial  Church  at  New- 
port, said,  "I  am  well  assured  there  scarce  ever  was  a  time,  the  hundred 
years  past,  in  which  here  was  not  a  weekly  public  worship  of  God,  at- 
tended by  Christians  on  this  Island"  (Aquidneck).  It  is  a  well  established 
fact  that  all  the  first  settlers  at  Providence  and  Newport  were,  in  religious 
belief,  Puritan  Congregationalists,  most  of  them  being  at  the  time  of  their 
leaving  the  Bay  Colony,  accredited  members  of  the  Puritan  churches.  As 
Roger  Williams  was  a  Congregationalist  after  coming  to  Rhode  Island 
it  is  believed  by  many  that  Dr.  John  Clarke  was  also  a  member  of  the 
Puritan  Church  of  England.  Dr.  Armitage,  in  his  History  of  the  Bap- 
tists, writing  concerning  Qarke,  says,  "There  is  no  evidence  that  he  was  a 
Baptist  at  this  time  (1637),  but  rather  he  seems  to  have  been  a  Puritan 
much  like  Roger  Williams  when  he  landed  there ;  and  as  Clarke  expected 
to  practise  medicine  in  Boston,  he  would  scarcely  have  been  tolerated 
there  as  a  Baptist."  The  fact  that  Dr.  Clarke  joined  the  Hutchinson- 
Coddington  party  at  Boston  and  was  chosen  as  a  leader  of  the  Exodus  in 
1638,  seems  to  justify  the  opinion  that  he  held  to  the  modified  Puritan- 
ism of  the  Antinomians. 

It  is  certain  that  Dr.  Clarke  was  the  author  of  the  Portsmouth  Com- 
pact and  that  he  and  Coddington  were  the  Moses  and  Joshua  of  the  Pil- 
grims from  the  Bay  Colony  to  Aquidneck,  in  the  spring  of  1638.  The 
erection  of  a  meeting  house  at  Portsmouth,  Rhode  Island,  in  1638,  and  of 
another  at  Newport  in  1641,  by  order  of  the  towns,  were  among  the  first 
acts  of  the  settlers,  most  of  whom  were  members  of  the  First  Church 
(Puritan)  of  Boston.  Callender  says  in  the  Century  Sermon  that  the 
Puritans,  who  came  to  Rhode  Island  (Aquidneck),  desired  Mr.  Wheel- 
wright for  their  minister,  but  failing  in  this,  "in  the  meantime,  Mr.  John 
Clarke,  who  was  a  man  of  letters,  carried  on  a  public  worship  (as  Mr. 


RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES  579 

Brewster  diS  at  Plymouth),  at  the  first  coming,  till  the  procured  Mr. 
Lenthal  (Robert)  of  We>-mouth,  who  was  admitted  a  freeman  here,  Aug- 
ust 6,  1640.  *  *  *  One  of  their  first  cares,  both  at  Portsmouth  and 
Newport,  was  to  build  a  meeting  house  which  I  suppose  was  designed 
for  public  worship."  VVinthrop's  Journal  is  the  source  of  our  informa- 
tion on  religious  matters  at  Aquidneck  as  well  as  at  Providence.  He  re- 
lates that  a  deputation  was  sent  from  the  First  Church  of  Boston,  in  1640, 
to  the  brethren  on  Rhode  Island.  This  committee  visited  the  Portsmouth 
and  Newport  brethren,  still  assumed  to  be  members  in  good  standing  in 
Boston,  to  ascertain  their  attitude  towards  the  mother  church  and,  if  alien- 
ated, to  solicit  their  return  to  the  Boston  fellowship.  On  their  return,  the 
three  messengers  reported  to  the  Boston  Church,  that  a  Puritan  Church 
had  been  organized  at  Portsmouth  ''in  a  very  disorderly  way ;  for  they 
took  some  excommunicated  persons,  and  others  who  were  members  of 
the  church  in  Boston,  and  were  not  dismissed;  *  *  *  that  many  of 
Boston  and  others,  who  were  of  Mrs.  Hutchinson's  judgment  and  party 
removed  to  the  isle  of  Acjuiday ;  and  others  of  the  rigid  separation,  and 
savored  of  Anabaptism,  removed  to  Providence."  They  reported  that 
Mrs.  Hutchinson  and  others  refused  to  confer  with  them  on  church  mat- 
ters, asking  the  Boston  deputies  "What  power  one  Church  hath  over  an- 
other/' and  assuring  them  of  their  full  satisfaction  in  their  new  plantation 
at  Portsmouth.  The  Boston  Church,  on  hearing  the  report  "deferred 
action,"  althongli  Winthrop  adds,  "the  elders  and  most  of  the  churches 
would  have  cast  them  out,  as  refusing  to  hear  the  churches."  Callender 
and  Armitage  agree  as  authorities  that  Dr.  John  Clarke  was  the  first  min- 
ister of  the  Portsmouth  Church,  gathered  for  worship  as  early  as  May, 
1638. 

There  is  full  evidence  for  the  statement  that  a  second  Puritan  Con- 
gregational Church  was  formed  on  Aquidneck,  at  Newport,  in  1641,  with 
Dr.  John  Clarke  as  pastor  or  elder.  Lechford,  1637- 1641,  writes,  "At 
the  Island  called  Aquedney,  are  about  two  hundred  families.  There  was 
a  church,  where  one  master  Clark  was  Elder ;  the  place  where  the  Church 
was  is  called  Newport,  but  that  Church,  I  heare,  is  now  dissolved.  *  * 
*  At  the  other  end  of  the  Island  there  is  another  towne  called  Ports- 
mouth, but  no  church  ;  there  is  a  meeting  of  some  men,  who  there  teach 
one  another  and  call  it  Prophesie.  *  *  *  At  Providence,  which  is 
twenty  miles  from  the  said  Island,  lives  master  Williams  and  his  com- 
pany of  divers  opinions ;  most  are  Anabaptists ;  they  hold  there  is  no  true 
visible  Church  in  the  Bay,  nor  in  the  world,  nor  any  true  Ministerie." 
In  the  absence  of  local  records  as  to  the  first  church  at  Newport,  we  are 
forced  to  refer  to  Dr.  Armitage,  who  says  "a  church  was  formed  in  1641, 
of  which  Oarke  was  pastor,  probably  another  Congregational  Church, 


S8o  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

for  we  have  no  sign  that  even  then  he  held  Baptist  views  of  the  ordi- 
nances." We  are  forced  again  to  turn  to  VVinthrop  at  Boston  for  a  pos- 
sible explanation  of  religious  goings  on  at  Rhode  Island.  Under  August, 
1641,  he  writes,  "Mrs.  Hutchinson  and  those  of  Aquiday  Island  broached 
new  heresies  every  year.  Divers  of  them  professed  Anabaptists,  and 
would  not  wear  any  arms  and  denied  all  magistracy  among  Christians, 
and  maintained  that  there  were  no  churches  since  those  founded  by  the 
apostles  and  evangelists,  nor  could  any  be,  nor  any  pastors  ordained,  nor 
seals  administered  but  by  such,  and  that  the  Church  was  to  want  these 
all  the  time  she  continued  in  the  wilderness,  as  yet  she  was."  *  *  * 
"Other  troubles  arose  in  the  Island  by  reason  of  one  Nicholas  Easton,  a 
tanner,  a  man  very  bold,  though  ignorant.  He  using  to  teach  at  New- 
port, where  Mr.  Coddington  their  governor  lived,  maintained  that  man 
hath  no  power  or  will  in  himself,  but  as  he  is  acted  by  God,  and  that 
seeing  God  filled  all  things,  nothing  could  be  or  move  but  by  him,  and  so 
he  must  needs  be  the  author  of  sin,  etc.,  and  that  a  Christian  is  united  to 
the  essence  of  God.  *  *  *  Tliere  joined  with  Nicholas  Easton,  Mr. 
Coddington,  Mr.  Coggeshall  and  some  others,  but  their  minister  Mr. 
Clarke  and  Mr.  Lenthall  and  Mr.  Harding  and  some  others  dissented  and 
publicly  opposed,  whereby  it  grew  to  such  heat  of  contention,  that  it  made 
a  schism  amongst  them."  Whatever  the  quality  of  Mr.  Easton's  ignor- 
ance he  was  certainly  one  of  the  most  enterprising  of  the  founders  of 
Newport,  built  the  first  house  in  the  town  and  held  every  important  office 
from  Elder  to  Governor  of  the  Colony  of  Rhode  Island  and  Providence 
Plantations  from  1672  to  1675,  the  year  in  which  he  died.  He  certainly 
was  not  "ignorant"  of  Calvinistic  theology,  and  if  a  member  of  the  first 
group,  named  by  Winthrop,  he  was  a  pre-Quaker  before  the  advent  of 
George  Fox,  who  stood  for  the  "heresies"  which  he  attributes  to  Mrs. 
Hutchinson. 

A  letter  of  Gov.  Coddington  to  an  unknown  party  on  church  mem- 
bership, before  1643,  says :  "When  the  members  ch.  is  called  to  remove 
they  must  be  dismissed  from  it.  *  *  *  It  was  often  then  charged 
yt  we  should  live  without  ordinances  wch  I  could  not  free  myselfe  had 
I  not  partaken  of  having  oportunetye  soe  to  doe."  Dr.  Stiles'  remarks 
on  the  Coddington  letter  are:  i.  "Hence  Mr.  Coddington  joyned  another 
chh.  after  he  left  Boston  and  communicated  or  partook  in  it."  2.  "This 
was  before  the  death  of  Miantonomi,  which  was  A.  D.,  1643.  3.  No  chh. 
in  Mass.  Bay  would  have  admitted  to  communion  those  under  censure 
(but  Coddington  never  censured)  &c.  Nor  is  there  any  intimation  or 
tradition  that  the  Rhode  Islanders  ever  participated  in  any  of  the  Mass. 
chhs.  afterwards." 

While  the  main  body  of  the  founders  of  the  two  towns,  Portsmouth 


RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES  581 

and  r"<;wport,  were  Puritan  Congregationalists,  who  built  a  meeting  house 
for  worship  and  held  regular  preaching  services  in  each  town,  and  organ- 
ized churches  of  that  order,  as  stated  by  Winthrop,  Lechford,  Callender 
and  Armitage,  it  is  certain  that  between  1641  and  1644,  there  was  a  sep- 
aration of  the  people  into  what  eventually  became  three  religious  societies 
or  churches,  to  wit,  Congregationalists,  Baptist-;  led  by  Dr.  John  Clarke 
and  Quakers  led  by  Gov.  William  Coddington,  in  the  historical  order 
named.  It  may  as  well  be  stated  here,  that  the  first  meeting  houses  in 
the  State  of  Rhode  Island  were  built  by  Puritan  Congregationalists,  one 
at  Portsmouth  and  the  second  at  Newport ;  that  the  first  religious  services 
of  record  and  the  first  Church  of  Christian  believers  was  a  Congregational 
Church  and  the  first  minister  of  tliat  church  was  Dr.  John  Clarke,  of 
Newport,  at  that  time  a  Puritan-Congregationalist. 

The  records  are  silent  as  to  the  causes  of  the  separation  of  the 
religious  forces  of  Aquidneck  between  1641  and  1644.  Certain  it  is  that 
a  Baptist  Qiurch  was  organized  at  Newport  in  1644,  with  Dr.  John  Clarke 
as  its  minister,  who  held  the  pastorate  until  his  death  in  1676.  Callender 
says:  "It  is  said  that  in  1644,  Mr.  John  Clarke  and  some  others  formed 
a  church  on  the  scheme  and  principles  of  the  Baptists.  It  is  certain  that 
in  1648  there  were  fifteen  members  in  full  communion."  Although  the 
way  was  short  between  the  Congregational  and  Baptist  folds,  we  have  no 
clue  as  to  the  steps  which  led  Dr.  Clarke  and  his  followers  to  pass  from 
one  to  the  other.  Assuming  the  validity  of  ordination  and  baptism  of 
the  minister  and  members  of  the  Baptist  Church  at  Newport  and  its  adop- 
tion of  Articles  of  Faith  and  Covenant,  and  the  choice  of  officers  in  the 
ordering  of  church  affairs,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  the  Newport  church  holds 
the  primacy  as  the  first  Baptist  Church  of  recprd  in  America,  as  well  as 
in  Rhode  Island,  in  its  foundation  in  1644.  In  1652,  while  Dr.  Clarke 
was  absent  in  England,  the  church  divided  in  opinion  on  the  question  of 
"laying  on  of  hands"  as  a  test  of  church  membership.  Four  years  later, 
this  difference  led  to  the  separation  of  twenty-one  members  including 
William  Vaughan,  an  original  member  of  the  Dr.  John  Clarke  Church, 
and  the  formation  of  a  "Six  Principles  Baptist  Church"  at  Newport,  bas- 
ing their  act  of  withdrawal  on  Hebrews,  VI,  i,  2,  the  other  five  being  held 
by  all  Baptists.  The  name  General  was  adopted  by  the  new  sect  in  view 
of  the  acceptance  of  the  Arminian  Doctrine,  of  the  potential  redemption 
of  all  men  by  the  death  of  Christ,  rather  than  the  Calvinistic  Doctrine  of 
special  election,  held  by  others  called  Particular  Baptists.  The  reasons 
stated  for  separation  were  an  opposition  to  psalmody  in  services,  the  re- 
straints of  prophesying,  the  doctrine  of  Partictilar  Election  and  the  accep- 
tance of  the  rite  of  Laying  on  of  Hands  as  a  prerequisite  to  church  mem- 
bership and  Holy  Communion.     William  \'aughan,  Thomas  Baker,  John 


582  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

Harden  and  James  Clarke,  a  nephew  of  Dr.  John  Garke,  were  early  rrjin- 
isters  or  elders  of  this  Newport  Church.  In  1731,  this  church  had  one 
hundred  and  fifty  members,  the  largest  church  in  the  Colony  of  Rhode 
Island.  At  the  same  date  there  were  seventeen  Baptist  Churches  in  New 
England,  thirteen  of  which  were  "Six  Principle  Baptists,"  holding  a  pre- 
dominating influence  over  the  denomination.  Later  pastors  of  the  Second 
Church  at  Newport  were  Rev.  John  Comer,  a  distinguished  preacher,  who 
had  been  pastor  of  the  First  Church,  Dr.  William  Rogers,  the  first  student 
of  Rhode  Island  College,  and  Elder  William  Gammell.  An  offshoot  of 
the  Newport  Church  appears  in  North  Kingstown,  planted  by  Elder 
Thomas  Baker,  one  of  the  ministers  at  Newport.  Its  earliest  records 
begin  in  1710.  Other  Six  Principle  Baptist  churches  in  Rhode  Island 
were  those  of  Smithfield,  Jonathan  Sprague,  pastor,  1706;  Richmond, 
Daniel  Everett,  pastor,  1723;  Scituate,  Samuel  Fisher,  pastor,  1725.  grow- 
ing in  a  century  to  a  membership  of  two  hundred  and  seventy-six ;  South 
Kingstown,  Daniel  Everett,  pastor,  1729;  Warwick,  Manassah  Martin, 
pastor,  with  sixty-five  members,  1730;  Cumberland,  1732,  its  house  of 
worship,  built  between  1740  and  1749,  known  as  the  "old  Ballou  Meeting 
House,"  still  standing  on  the  northern  slope  of  "Iron  Rock  Hill." 

The  Baptist  Church. 

It  has  already  been  shown  that  the  first  Baptist  Church  of  Provi- 
dence, by  the  declaration  of  Elder  Pardon  Tillinghast  in  171 1,  was  Six 
Principle  Baptist  in  faith  and  practise.  The  separation  of  a  part  of  the 
membership  in  1653-54,  growing  out  of  opposition  to  the  rite,  continued  to 
1718,  which,  by  the  death  of  Thomas  Olney,  the  separatist  church  was 
abandoned,  and  unity  restored  under  the  Six  Principle  doctrines.  As 
far  as  the  Articles  of  Faith  and  Covenant  of  the  First  Baptist  Church 
of  Providence  justify,  and  so  far  as  its  acceptance  and  retention  of  the 
Elder  Tillinghast  gift  involve  moral  obligations,  it  is  still  a  church  of  the 
Six  Principle  Faith.  However,  in  1770-71,  a  singular  occurrence  took 
place  which  led  hard  on  to  an  overthrow  of  its  ancient  doctrine  of  Laying 
on  of  Hands.  Rev.  James  Manning,  President  of  Rhode  Island  College 
and  pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  at  Warren,  on  the  removal  of  the  Col- 
lege to  Providence,  transferred  his  church  relations  to  the  First  Church, 
Providence.  Although  Mr.  Manning  was  a  Six  Principle  Baptist,  he 
declared  himself  free  to  join  in  the  Lord's  Supper  with  those  Baptists 
who  were  not.  A  division  was  created  in  the  church  and  a  secession 
occurred  April  18,  1771,  when  Elder  Winsor,  the  pastor.  Deacon  John 
Dyer  and  eighty-five  other  members  united  in  the  following  protest: 
"Brethren  and  Sisters^ — We  must  in  conscience  withdraw  ourselves  from 
all  those  who  do  not  hold  strictly  to  the  Six  Principles  of  the  doctrine  of 


RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES  583 

Christ,  as  laid  down  in  Hebrews,  VI,  i,  2."  The  seceding  members  or- 
ganized a  church  with  Elder  Samuel  Winsor  as  pastor,  who  held  that 
office  until  his  death  in  1802.  Rev.  Mr.  Manning  was  chosen  pastor  of 
the  First  Baptist  Church,  in  1771,  and  preached  his  farewell  sermon  to 
the  church,  April,  1791,  dying  July  29,  of  that  year,  in  the  fifty-fourth 
year  of  his  age.  His  career  as  educator,  pastor  and  statesman  entitle  him 
to  the  first  rank  of  adopted  sons  of  Rhode  Island.  His  catholicity  places 
him  among  the  leaders  of  a  liberal  faith  in  matters  of  Church  and  .State. 

A  Y'early  Meeting  of  the  Six  Principle  Baptists  was  organized  about 
1700.  In  1729,  this  body  contained  twelve  churches  and  eighteen  ordained 
elders.  In  1802,  it  had  twenty-one  churches,  some  outside  of  the  State. 
In  1827  there  were  eighteen  Six  I'rincii)!e  Qiurches  in  Rhode  Island,  in 
1850,  nineteen,  and  in  1853.  there  were  twenty-two  ministers  and  seven- 
teen hundred  and  sixty-six  members.  In  January,  1895,  The  General  Six 
Principle  Baptist  Conference  of  Rhode  Island  was  incorporated  and  in 
1900  the  denomination  had  ten  churches,  si.x  ministers,  six  hundred  and 
thirty-four  members  and  four  hundred  and  ninety-six  in  Sunday  schools. 
The  Maple  Root  and  the  Knotty  Oak  Churches  are  alive  in  root  and 
branch. 

The  Seventh  Day  Baptists  or  Sabbatarians  in  Rhode  Island  separated 
from  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Newport,  in  1671,  under  the  teachings 
of  Stephen  Mumford,  who  came  from  England  in  1665.  They  differ 
from  other  Baptists  only  in  respect  to  the  day  of  rest  and  worship,  claim- 
ing that  the  seventh  day  is  the  Sabbath,  and  not  the  first.  Seven  mem- 
bers of  the  Newport  Church  (Dr.  John  Clarke's)  seceded  and  organized 
the  first  church  of  Sabbatarians  in  .America,  with  Mr.  William  Hiscox 
as  elder.  This  ,Sabbatarian  movement  was  transferred  to  Westerly  by 
the  founders  of  that  part  of  the  Colony,  who  went  from  Newport.  The 
organization  was  formed  in  1708.  under  Rev.  John  Maxson,  Sen.,  as 
pastor,  and  was  known  as  the  First  Hopkinton  Seventh  Day  Baptist 
Church.  Their  first  meeting  house  was  built  about  1680.  This  church 
was  the  first  religious  body  to  locate  in  the  southwestern  part  of  the  Col- 
ony, and  having  the  .support  of  strong  landed  proprietors,  became  a  large 
and  influential  body,  at  one  time  owning  two  meeting  houses.  Its  first 
elder,  Mr.  Maxson,  was  the  first  white  child  bom  on  the  Island  of  Rhode 
Island,  holding  the  office  from  1708  to  his  death  in  1720.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  son  John,  Jr.,  who  held  the  office  of  ehler  until  1747,  and 
was  followed  in  the  pastorate  by  his  brother  Joseph  who  died  in  1750. 
The  church  in  its  divisions  and  subdivisions  in  Westerly  has  led  in  numer- 
icar  strength  and  in  religious  activities  and  great  revivals  have  been  fre- 
c|uent.  In  1769,  Gov.  Samuel  Ward  and  fifteen  others  became  members; 
in   1770,  forty-five  were  added;  in  1779.  six-ty-five;  in  1780,  fifty-three; 


S84  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

in  1785,  forty-one;  in  1786,  one  hundred  and  forty-six ;  "Oy  1793,  after 
the  formation  of  three  churches,  with  over  two  hundred  members,  there 
were  three  hundred  and  forty  members  of  the  mother  church  of  1708. 
In  1900  the  Hopkinton  Church  had  three  hundred  and  forty-one  mem- 
bers, two  hundred  and  fourteen  in  Sunday  school  work  with  contribu- 
tions of  $2,827.15.  There  are  now  seven  active  Seventh  Day  Churches 
in  Hopkinton.  Richmond  and  Westerly,  with  eleven  hundred  and  forty- 
seven  members,  of  whom  over  four  hundred  belong  to  the  Pawcatuck 
Church  in  Westerly.  Dr.  Dennison  writes  of  this  branch  of  Baptists : 
"Its  members  held  high  and  consistent  ground  against  all  forms  of  sin. 
*  *  *  They  were  champions  for  liberty.  Always  they  stood  in  the 
van  of  the  anti-slavery  movement.  Nor  less  and  active  have  they  been  in 
the  later  reform  of  temperance." 

The  Free  Baptists,  believing  in  General  Redemption  and  Open  Com- 
munion, organized  their  first  church  at  Hollis,  Maine,  in  1780,  under  the 
inspiring  preaching  and  leadership  of  Elder  Benjamin  Randall.  In  1812, 
Rev.  John  Colby,  a  Free  Baptist  preacher  and  evangelist,  visited  Rhode 
Island,  preaching  in  Providence,  Smithfield,  Gloucester  and  Burrillville. 
At  Pascoag  was  organized  the  first  Free  Baptist  Church  of  Rhode  Island. 
In  1820,  the  Second  Church  was  formed  in  Smithfield  by  the  able  teacher 
and  Elder  Joseph  White.  Elder  Ray  Potter  formed  a  church  of  that 
order  at  Pawtucket,  the  same  year,  there  came  from  Vermont  Elder  Reu- 
ben Allen,  who  labored  in  Rhode  Island  for  fifty  years,  preaching  in  all 
parts  of  the  State  and  organizing  churches  at  various  places  in  a  preach- 
ing circuit  of  eighty  miles.  Churches  were  formed  at  Chepacket,  Green- 
ville, North  Scituate,  and  Coventry.  He  baptized  fourteen  hundred  con- 
verts, attended  over  sixteen  hundred  funerals,  and  married  six  hundred 
and  fifty  couples.  He  did  remarkable  pioneer  work,  and  as  a  revival 
preacher  had  great  power.  At  North  Scituate,  the  church  was  increased 
to  four  hundred  members,  one  hundred  being  baptized  in  one  day.  Elder 
Martin  Qieney  was  a  man  of  unusual  power  as  a  preacher  and  leader  in 
Rhode  Island  and  organized  the  prosperous  Free  Baptist  Church  at  Olney- 
ville,  in  1828.  This  church  increased  to  more  than  seven  hundred  mem- 
bers during  Elder  Cheney's  ministry  and  is  now  the  largest  of  that  order 
in  Rhode  Island.  He  was  an  ardent  advocate  of  the  great  reforms  of  the 
day — anti-slavery  and  temperance, — and  left  many  evidences  of  a  suc- 
cessful ministry  of  tnith.  The  Roger  Williams  Church,  in  Providence, 
joined  the  Free  Baptists  in  1837,  having  been  organized  as  a  Six  Principle 
Church  in  1830.  Under  the  able  ministries  of  Elder  J.  A.  Mekenzie  and 
Rev.  Geo.  T.  Day,  the  church  has  grown  in  numbers  and  influence  to 
occupy  a  high  rank  in  its  order. 

There  are  now  twenty-nine  Free  Baptist  Churches  in  Rhode  Island, 


RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES  585 

thirty-seven   ministers,    tliirty-six    hundred    and    fifty-two   members   and 
thirty-seven  hundred  and  forty-seven  persons  in  Sunday  schools. 

In  this  conneetion,  reference  should  be  made  to  the  John  Myles  Bap- 
tist Church  of  Swansea,  Massachusetts,  founded  in  1663,  on  territorj- 
afterwards  ceded  to  Rhode  Island.  Rev.  John  Myles  was  pastor  of  a 
Baptist  Church  in  Swansea,  Wales,  from  1649  to  1662,  during  which  time 
two  hundred)  and  sixty-tliree  members  were  added  to  his  church.  By  the 
Act  of  Uniformity  two  thousand  ministers  of  England  and  Wales  were 
ejected  from  their  pastorates  of  independent  churches,  Mr.  Myles  being 
one.  Arriving  in  New  England  with  some  of  his  church,  he  learned  of 
Baptists  in  Rehoboth  and  straightway  found  James  Brown,  John  Butter- 
worth  and  others,  living  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Newman  Congrega- 
tional Church,  in  Rehoboth.  Seven  men  and  probably  more  women,  al- 
though they  are  not  named,  united  in  a  church  covenant  in  the  house  of 
Mr.  John  Butterworth  and  organized  the  first  Baptist  church  of  record  in 
what  is  now  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  in  1663.  The  men  were  John 
Myles,  pastor,  Nicholas  Tanner,  James  Brown,  Joseph  Carpenter.  John 
Butterworth.  Eldad  Kingsley  and  Benjamin  Alby.  The  Puritan  and  Pil- 
grim churches  of  Plymouth  and  the  Bay  Colony  objected  to  the  establish- 
ment of  a  Baptist  church  in  these  Colonies  and,  on  complaint  of  the  Col- 
onies, these  Baptist  brethren  were  fined  each  five  pounds  "for  setting  up 
a  public  religious  meeting  without  consent  of  the  Court  of  Plymouth," 
and  were  also  advised  to  remove  from  Rehoboth,  which  they  did,  locating 
their,  meeting  house  in  Wannamoisctt,  a  part  of  ancient  Sowams,  south  of 
the  Rehoboth  line  and  between  the  two  branches  of  the  Sowams  river. 
The  site  of  the  first  meeting  house  of  the  John  Myles  Church,  the  First 
Baptist  Church  in  Massachusetts,  is  on  Nockuni  Hill,  in  the  present  town 
of  Barrington  and  is  mafked  by  a  suitable  monument,  endorsed  by  the 
Baptists  of  Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island,  by  the  Rhode  Island  His- 
torical Society,  and  by  the  Rhode  Island  Citizens  Historical  Association. 
A  settlement  had  already  been  made  at  Wannamoisett  by  Hon.  John 
Browne,  Captain  Thomas  Willett  and  others.  Rev.  Mr.  Myles  and  the 
Baptist  brethren  had  located  as  near  the  meeting  house  as  was  practicable, 
forming  local  settlements  adequate  for  a  town  organization,  and  in  the 
year  1667,  Capt.  Willett  was  authorized  to  set  up  a  town  which  was  done, 
calling  it  Swansea,  in  regard  for  Mr.  Myles  and  his  home  town,  across 
the  sea.  Mr.  Myles  built  his  own  house,  near  the  east  branch  of  the 
Sowams  river,  on  New  Meadow  Neck,  now  Hampden  Meadows.  At  the 
opening  of  Philip's  War,  the  settlers  of  Swansea  were  the  first  to  receive 
the  attack  of  the  Indians  and  here  the  first  white  blood  was  shed.  T\ve 
Baptist  people  fled,  Mr.  Myles  took  refuge  in  Boston  and  his  home  was 
made  the  garrison  for  soldiers.     At  the  close  of  the  war,  the  town  of 


586  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

Swansea  erected  a  new  meeting  house  at  Tyler's  Point,  then  called  "The 
Place  of  Trade,"  between  the  branches  of  the  Sowams,  on  what  is  now 
Hampden  Meadows.  In  1680  Mr.  Myles  returned  from  his  five  years' 
Baptist  mission  in  Boston,  took  up  his  residence  near  the  new  meeting 
house,  died  February  3,  1685,  and  was  buried  in  the  old  burial  ground 
at  Tyler's  Point.  A  granite  boulder  marks  his  grave,  erected  by  the  Rhode 
Island  Citizens'  Historical  Association. 

Rev.  John  Myles  was  a  Baptist  of  so  broad  a  faith  and  of  so  gen- 
erous a  spirit  that  he  held  the  Congregationalists  in  his  Catholic  fold. 
His  successor,  Mr.  Samuel  Luther,  was  a  man  of  good  ability,  without 
education  for  ministerial  work  and  lacking  in  the  liberal  temper  of  Mr. 
Myles.  Quite  a  large  number  of  families  of  the  Congregational  faith 
from  Eastern  Plymouth  towns  had  made  homes  "on  the  westward  end  of 
.Swansea,"  while  the  Baptists  had  gathered  in  North  and  East  Swansea. 
This  religious  separation  of  the  population  led  to  the  removal  of  the  Bap- 
tist meeting  house  from  Tyler's  Point  to  North  Swansea,  thus  leaving  the 
people  on  the  west  without  a  place  of  public  worship.  With  fine  attrac- 
tions for  an  agricultural  migration,  the  territory  west  of  the  Sowams 
(Warren)  river,  which  was  organized  into  a  proprietary  in  1653  named 
.Sowams,  was  taken  up  by  a  body  of  intelligent,  well-to-do  farmers,  mostly 
Congregationalists  in  religious  faith.  Desiring  a  church  worship  of  their 
own,  they  first  labored  and  petitioned  for  a  town  as  the  basis  of  a  church 
organization.  Both  church  and  town  came  in  due  time,  as  will  appear 
under  the  story  of  Barrington. 

On  the  13th  of  November,  1764,  a  Baptist  church  was  organized  at 
Warren  with  fifty-eight  members,  thirty-five  of  whom  were  received  from 
the  Swansea  church  of  1663.  Rev.  James  Manning,  its  first  pastor,  had 
already  opened  a  preparatory  Latin  school  at  Warren,  being  encouraged 
by  those  who  had  a  future  college  in  mind.  This  school  went  with  the 
college  to  Providence  and  became  the  well-known  LIniversity  Grammar 
School.  Mr.  Manning  was  chosen  president  of  Rhode  Island  College  in 
1765,  and  was  the  only  teacher  till  in  1766  David  Howell  was  chosen  as 
the  first  tutor  of  the  college.  Mr.  Manning  was  pastor  of  the  Warren 
church  till  1770,  when  the  college  was  removed  to  Providence. 

From  1706  to  1752  ten  Baptist  churches  were  organized  in  Smithfield, 
Hopkinton,  North  Kingstown,  Scituate,  Warwick,  Cumberland,  East 
Greenwich,  Exeter,  Westerly  and  Coventry.  In  1764  a  Baptist  church 
was  founded  in  Cranston  ;  in  1765  one  in  North  Providence  and  one  in 
Foster.  In  1790  there  were  thirty-eight  Baptist  churches,  thirty-seven 
ministers  and  3,502  members.  In  1813  there  were  thirty-six  churches, 
thirty  meeting  houses  and  over  five  thousand  members.  In  1844  there 
were  forty-one  churches,  with  7,381  members.    In  1850  there  were  forty- 


CEMTRAL  CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH 


RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES  587 

nine  churches  and  7,278  members.    In  1890  there  were  sixty-nine  churches, 

with  12,039  members. 

The  Congregational  Church. 

The  body  of  churches  in  Rhode  Island,  known  as  Congregational, 
while  their  founders  came  from  the  Bay  Colony,  were,  in  spirit,  more 
nearly  representative  of  the  Plymouth  Pilgrim  church.  While  the  theo- 
logical views  of  Pilgrim  and  Puritan  were  nearly  identical,  the  Puritan 
rather  insisted  on  a  state-church  and  a  church-state.  He  was  jealous  of 
church  authority  and  prerogatives  and  intended  to  build  a  commonwealth 
exclusively  Puritan.  Hence  came  the  persecution  of  Baptists  and  Quakers 
and  the  witchcraft  craze,  all  of  which  were  expressions  of  fidelity  to  a 
unified  Puritan  church-state. 

As  already  stated,  the  atmosphere  of  early  New  England  was  charged 
with  Congregationalism.  Every  congregation  of  worshippers  vras  a  self- 
governing  body,  with  a  body  of  elders  or  presbyters  to  which  its  discipline 
and  government  were  practically  committed.  "A  government  merely  popu- 
lar or  Democraticall  *  *  *  is  farre  from  the  practise  of  these  churches 
and  we  believe  farre  from  the  mind  of  Christ,"  wrote  Richard  Mather. 
"The  power  of  church  government  we  give  neither  all  to  the  people  ex- 
cluding the  elders  nor  all  to  the  elders  excluding  the  people."  As  the  Bay 
churches  held  in  some  slight  measure  the  influence  of  the  Episcopal  gov- 
ernment of  most  the  English  church  forms  and  ceremonies,  it  is  not 
strange  that  we  find  the  term  Presbjlerian  attached  to  the  Puritan  church 
bodies,  as  determined  by  the  Cambridge  platform,  while  "Orthodox," 
"Evangelical,"  "Congregational,"  "Pedobaptists,"  "Old  Lights,"  "New 
Lights,"  were  terms  frequently  used  in  the  first  century  and  a  half  of 
Massachusetts  ecclesiastical  history. 

Plymouth  Pilgrims  were  orthodox  in  Calvinistic  theology,  but  were 
more  liberal  in  the  treatment  of  dissenters,  and,  as  early  as  1663,  allowed 
Rev.  John  Myles  to  set  up  a  Baptist  church  on  Plymouth  Colony  terri- 
tory, and  four  years  later  incorporated  the  town  of  Swansea  as  a  home 
for  the  newly-established  Baptist  body.  As  early  as  1655  Hon.  John 
Browne,  of  Wannamoisett,  for  many  years  one  of  the  Governor's  assist- 
ants and  a  member  of  the  General  Court  of  Plymouth,  was  opposed  to  the 
coercion  of  the  people  of  Rehoboth  to  support  the  Congregational  church 
in  that  town  and  agreed  to  make  up  any  deficit  that  might  arise  from 
those  refusing  to  pay.  Even  as  early  as  1636,  Roger  Williams  would 
have  remained  on  his  scjuatter  plantation  at  Seekonk  had  not  the  Bay 
Colony  demanded  his  removal  by  Plymouth. 

The  leading  principles  of  the  Congregationalists  are  these: 

I.  A  Congregational  church  is  a  voluntary  union  of  Christians, 
covenanting  for  worship,  for  ordinances,  for  fellowsliips  and  missions. 


588  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

2.  Each  church  is  an  independent  body,  under  Jesus  as  Head  of  the 
church. 

3.  Each  member  has  an  equal  voice  in  church  control  and  an  equal 
share  in  all  church  privileges.  All  officers  are  elected  by  and  subject  to 
the  whole  local  church  in  all  official  acts. 

4.  Congregational  churches  are  bound  in  fraternal  cooperation  in 
work,  in  conference  and  in  council.  Church  councils  have  no  judicial  or 
ecclesiastical  control,  only  advisory,  unless  expressly  conferred  by  the 
individual  church. 

6.  Congregationalists  recognize,  with  true  Catholic  spirit,  all  associa- 
tions of  followers  of  the  Christ  and  extend  fellowship  and  the  freedom  of 
Holy  communion  to  all  5uch. 

The  present  State  of  Rhode  Island  had  two  ecclesiastical  historic  start- 
ing points,  Providence  in  the  north  and  Newport  in  the  south.  Providence 
was  settled  by  Roger  Williams  and  others  from  Salem,  most  of  whom 
were  members  of  the  Salem  Puritan  Congregational  Church  at  the  time 
of  their  migration,  and  so  far  as  the  Salem  church  records  go,  their  church 
relationship  was  never  dissolved,  either  by  regular  dismissions  or  by  ex- 
communication. As  already  stated.  Providence  was  founded  by  Puritan 
Congregationalists  of  Salem  of  various  shades  of  belief,  from  orthodox 
to  "Seekers."  Aquidneck  was  settled  by  Puritan  Congregationalists  from 
Boston,  all  of  whom  held  fast  to  the  orthodox  faith  of  the  earlier  church 
until  the  founding  of  a  Baptist  church  at  Newport  in  1644  by  Dr.  John 
Clarke.  So  far  as  the  records  of  Boston  appear,  the  Aquidneck  founders 
were  never  excluded  from  the  Boston  communion.  With  such  antece- 
dents, we  are  now  called  to  witpess  the  essential  variations  and  departures 
from  the  old  faith.  In  the  adoption  of  the  rite  of  immersion,  the  founders 
did  not  depart  from  Congregational  rites  and  precedents.  Nor  was  the 
separation  intoArminian  or  Calvinistic  or  even  Arian  sects,  a  departure 
from  Congregationalism  distinctively.  Even  the  several  divisions  of  the 
Baptist  church  all  held  and  still  hold  the  chief  features  of  the  Congrega- 
tional body,  as  already  set  forth. 

The  backbone  of  the  distinctive  Congregational  churches  of  Rhode 
Island  was  the  growth  of  Pilgrim  Congregationalism  of  the  seventeenth 
century  and  is  evidence  of  the  wonderful  vitality  of  the  Pilgrim  faith,  as 
embodied  in  our  democracy  of  the  twentieth  century.  The  churches 
which  constitute  this  spinal  column  are  located  at  Pawtucket,  East  Provi- 
dence, Providence,  Barrington,  Bristol,  Fall  River,  Tiverton,  Little  Comp- 
ton  and  Newport,  all  of  which  save  two.  Providence  and  Newport,  were 
formed  and  grew  under  the  abundant  life  and  faith  of  the  old  colony, 
Plymouth.  All  are  proud  of  their  origin  and  historic  life,  though  not  in 
all  matters  distinctly  Congregational  in  church  polity.  The  oldest  of  these 
churches  is  the  Newman  church  at  Rumford,  East  Providence,  and  dates 
its  origin  with  the  settlement  of  ancient  Rehoboth  by  Rev.  Samuel  New- 


RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES  589 

man  and  his  associate  founders  in  1643.  This  church  has  had  a  continu- 
ous, vigorous  life  to  this  day,  celebrating  its  two  hundred  and  fiftieth 
anniversary  in  1893.  Its  first  minister  was  a  distinguished  student  of 
Biblical  literature  and  wrote  "Newman's  Concordance,"  afterwards  re- 
vised and  enlarged  under  the  title  of  "Pruden's  Concordance." 

The  Barrington  Congregational  Gnirch  dates  its  organization  with 
the  birth  of  the  town,  in  its  separation  from  Swansea,  November  17,  1717. 
There  were  a  number  of  Congregational  families  in  the  western  part  of 
Swansea,  who  either  worshipped  with  the  Newman  church,  six  miles  to 
the  north,  or  with  the  John  Myles  Baptist  Church  on  Nockum  Hill.  The 
death  of  the  liberal  Myles  and  the  removal  of  the  meeting  house  from 
Tyler's  Point  led  to  a  movement  of  the  Congregationalists  in  that  section 
of  old  Swansea  to  secure  a  new  town,  composed  mainly  of  people  who 
desired  religious  privileges  of  their  own  faith  and  order  for  themselves 
and  their  children.  On  the  30th  of  May,  171 1,  a  petition  was  sent  to  the 
General  Court  of  the  Bay  Colony,  asking  for  "the  inhabitants  on  the 
Westward  end  of  Swansea  *  *  *  a  .township  according  to  the  limits  of 
Captain  Samuel  Low's  military  company,  thereby  enabling  us  to  settle  and 
maintain  a  pious,  learned  and  orthodox  minister  for  the  goodi  of  us  and 
our  posterity."  In  October,  171 1,  the  Boston  court  passed  an  order  de- 
clining to  divide  the  town,  "but  approving  the  good  and  laudable  inclina- 
tions of  the  petitioners  to  encourage  religion  in  that  part,  and  to  recom- 
mend to  them  the  establishment  and  support  of  a  learned  orthodox  minis- 
ter of  good  conversation,  and  to  endeavor  by  subscription  for  his  com- 
fortable and  honorable  maintenance."  This  course  was  promptly  pur- 
sued and  Mr.  John  Wilson,  a  graduate  of  Harvard  College  in  1705,  son 
of  Rev.  John  Wilson,  of  Braintree.  grandson  of  Rev.  John  Wilson,  of 
Medfield,  and  great-grandson  of  Rev.  John  Wilson,  of  the  First  Church 
of  Boston,  was  secured  as  minister  in  1712.  He  built  an  "elegant  seat," 
as  his  house  was  called,  at  Barrington,  in  which  he  lived  for  a  brief  period 
with  his  wife  and  son  John,  dying  suddenly  of  a  fever  in  1713,  while 
waiting  for  his  ordination.  Judge  Sewall  makes  record  of  the  fact  that 
Mr.  Wilson  had  been  invited  to  become  pastor  at  Swansea  (Barrington), 
leaving  us  to  infer  that  provisions  had  been  made  for  his  support  by  the 
orthodox  Congregationalists  of  the  neighborhood,  to  whom  he  had 
preached  for  a  year  or  more.  The  "elegant  seat"  referred  to  was  a  brick 
house,  colonial  style,  standing  on  the  southwest  corner  of  the  Warren 
road,  at  Barrington  Centre,  and  was  later  the  residence  of  Hon.  Paul 
Mumford,  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State,  a  delegate 
to  the  Colonial  Congress  and  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Rhode  Island  from 
1803-1805. 

The  efforts  of  the  Congregational  people  for  a  new  town  were  con- 
tinued and  resulted  in  the  formation  of  a  new  town  named  Barrington  on 


590  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

November  iS,  1717.  Under  the  ancient  order  in  Massachusetts,  the  busi- 
ness relating  to  the  choice,  settlement  and  support  of  a  minister  was  trans- 
acted by  the  town  in  town  meeting,  and  at  such  a  meeting  at  Barrington, 
on  April  21,  1718,  the  townspeople  "chose  the  Reverend  Mr.  Samuel  Tor- 
rey  to  be  the  minister  for  the  said  town."  "For  the  labor  voted  to  give 
£100  as  a  settlement"  and  "have  £70  as  a  salary  for  the  labor  *  *  *  to 
be  collected  by  the  constable  yearly,  and  payed  into  the  town  clerk,  and  by 
him  to  be  payed  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Samuel  Torrey."  Messrs.  Zachariah 
Bicknell,  James  Adams  and  Sergeant  Nathaniel  Peck  were  a  committee 
to  treat  with  Rev.  Samuel  Torrey  in  relation  to  the  vote  of  the  town,  and 
on  the  fourth  day  of  August,  Mr.  Torrey,  in  open  town  meeting,  in  the 
presence  of  the  freemen  of  the  town,  "accepted  the  call  of  the  town  to  be 
their  minister  for  the  futor."  Rev.  Samuel  Torrey  thus  became  the  first 
minister  of  the  town  and  the  church,  the  assumption  being  made  that  the 
church  was  organized  prior  to  the  call  given  Mr.  John  Wilson  to  the  pas- 
torate. He  married  the  widow  of  Mr.  John  Wilson.  The  creation  of  a 
town  for  the  establishing  of  the  Congregational  church  and  the  acts  of  the 
town  in  securing  and  supporting  a  minister  was  the  way  of  the  Bay  Colony 
two  centuries  ago.  "Tcmpora  mutant iir,  ct  nos  mutamur  in  illis."  It  is 
apparent  that  the  term  Congregational,  as  applied  to  the  Barrington 
church  was  a  misnomer,  as  the  minister  was  called  by  the  town,  settled  by 
the  town,  paid  by  the  town  and  dismissed  by  the  town — evidencing  all  the 
elements  of  a  church-state.  Even  Rev.  Solomon  Townsend,  minister  of 
the  church  from  1743-1798,  was  chosen  and  installed  by  authority  of  the 
town.  Three  distinguished  ministers  occupied  the  pastorate  of  the 
Barrington  Congregational  Church  until  1816 — Rev.  Peleg  Heath,  1728- 
1740;  Rev.  Solomon  Townsend,  1743-1798,  and  Rev.  Samuel  Watson, 
1798-1816.  A  Sunday  school  was  established  in  1816,  during  the  success- 
ful ministry  of  Rev.  Luther  Wright.  The  church  celebrated  its  two  hun- 
dredth anniversary  in  1917  in  the  pastorate  of  Rev.  Prentice  A.  Canada. 
Bristol  was  founded  by  men  of  the  Congregational  faith,  as  were  all 
the  towns  on  the  east  shore  of  Narragansett  Bay  and  the  Pawtucket  river. 
Swansea  was  no  exception,  as  pedobaptism  and  anabaptism  were  ignored 
by  the  founders  in  the  settlement  of  the  town  in  1667  by  mutual  agree- 
ment, and  so  far  as  appears,  the  Baptist  church  did  not  in  this  instance 
deny  freedom  of  conscience  as  to  the  Holy  Communion,  thereby  exclud- 
ing Congregationalists.  The  deed  of  the  Mount  Hope  Lands  (Bristol)  to 
John  Walley,  Nathaniel  Byfield,  Stephen  Burton  and  Nathaniel  Oliver 
from  Governor  Josiah  Winslow  and  others  of  Plymouth  bears  date,  Sep- 
tember 14,  1680,  possession  being  given  "by  turf  and  twig,"  September 
22,  1680.  On  the  first  day  of  September,  1681,  seventy-seven  persons 
were  admitted  to  citizenship  and  all  agreed  to  name  the  new  town  Bristol. 
The  four  original  proprietors  set  apart  an  eight-acre  lot,  the  Common, 


RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES  591 

for  a  meeting  house,  town  house,  and  other  pubHc  uses.  Two  acres  were 
given  to  the  town  "for  the  encouragement  and  use  of  an  able  orthodox 
minister,"  meaning  a  minister  of  the  then  ruling  order  in  New  England, 
Puritan  or  Pilgrim  Congregationalist.  The  Congregational  meeting  house 
and  chapel  now  stand  on  that  lot  of  land.  The  first  house  in  Bristol  was 
built  in  i68o  by  Deacon  Nathaniel  Bosworth,  the  first  deacon  of  the  Con- 
gregational Church.  The  old  house,  with  many  additions,  is  standing 
near  the  North  Town  bridge  and  is  known  as  the  Perry  house.  At  the 
first  business  meeting  of  the  town,  November  10,  1681,  there  was  voted 
forty  pounds  towards  the  building  of  a  house  for  the  minister — proof  most 
conclusive  that  Bristol  was  an  orthodox  Congregational  town.  The  Select- 
men were  required  "to  take  notice  of  all  that  should  come  into  the  gov- 
ernment and  to  require  an  account  of  all  who  should  neglect  to  attend 
public  worship  from  supposed  profanity  or  slothfulness,"  and  with  a  con- 
stable could  enter  any  house  to  discover  if  "any  slothful  did  lurk  at  home 
or  get  together  in  companies  to  neglect  the  public  worship  of  God  or  pro- 
fane the  Lord's  Day."  This  was  Congregational  procedure  as  usually 
practised.  In  1682  Nathaniel  Oliver  gave  a  bell  to  the  town,  which  was 
hung  on  the  top  of  the  meeting  house  in  1692,  and  from  the  date  of  the 
gift  to  1871  was  rung  at  nine  o'clock  at  night.  In  1689  John  Corps  was 
chosen  "grave-digger"  and  "Sweeper  of  the  Meeting-house  and  Ringer 
of  the  Bell."  and  in  1692  Widow  Corps  was  paid  three  pounds  "for  Ring- 
ing the  Bell  for  Sabbath  Days  and  Town  Meetings  and  also  Sweeping  the 
Meeting-house"  for  one  year.  For  a  period  of  thirty-seven  years,  1681- 
1718,  one  hundred  and  ten  votes  of  the  town  related  to  the  Congregational 
meeting  house  or  minister.  As  in  other  Congregational  towns  at  first,  all 
matters  relating  to  religious  services  were  decided  by  the  tovwispeople  in 
town  meeting;  later,  town  meetings  were  held  for  the  concurrence  of  the 
town  in  the  action  or  desire  of  the  church.  Rev.  Benjamin  Woodbridge 
was  the  first  minister  at  Bristol  and  was  employed  by  the  town  for  six 
years,  during  which  time  the  first  meeting  house  was  built.  His  yearly 
salary  did  not  exceed  one  hundred  pounds.  In  1684  a  meeting  house  was 
built  at  a  cost  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  by  the  town  on  the  Com- 
mon, where  the  county  court  house  stands,  in  the  usual  style  of  the  Puritan 
meeting  house  of  the  period.  Bristol  was  then,  1686,  the  most  important 
town  in  Plymouth  Colony  and  a  learned  and  eloquent  minister  was  found 
in  Rev.  Samuel  Lee,  who  began  his  labors  at  Bristol,  April  10,  1687.  On 
the  3rd  of  May,  1687,  the  Church  of  Christ  in  Bristol"  was  organized  by 
Major  John  Walley,  Captain  Nathaniel  Byfield,  Captain  Benjamin  Qiurch, 
Nathaniel  Reynolds,  Hugh  Woodbury,  Goodman  Throop.  John  Cary  and 
Nathaniel  Bosworth — the  last  two  were  elected  the  first  deacons. 

Mr.  Lee  left  Bristol  in  1691  to  return  to  England  with  his  family, 
was  made  a  prisoner  by  the  P^rench  on  his  way  and  died  in  a  French 


593  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

prison.  Cotton  Mather  calls  him,  "the  light  of  both  Englands ;"  President 
Stiles  says,  "He  was  the  light  and  glory  of  the  church  in  Bristol,  and  one 
of  the  most  learned  divines  in  Christendom."  Allen  says,  "He  spoke  Latin 
with  elegance,  was  a  master  of  Physic  and  Chemistry,  and  well  versed  in 
all  the  liberal  Arts  and  Sciences."  He  contributed  a  dozen  volumes  to 
the  literature  of  his  time  and  was  the  wealthiest  citizen  of  Bristol,  building 
on  Thames  street  one  of  the  finest  mansions  in  New  England. 

In  October,  1693,  Rev.  John  Sparhawk  became  the  minister  of  the 
town  and  church  on  a  salary  of  seventy  pounds  a  year,  as  "a  single  man 
and  £80  by  the  year  when  he  comes  to  keep  a  family."  He  died  at  Bris- 
tol, April  29,  1718,  leaving  a  large  church  and  congregation  in  grief. 

His  successor,  in  1718,  was  Dr.  James  McSparran,  the  son  of  Scotch 
parents  and  born  in  County  Derry,  Ireland,  at  a  salary  of  one  hundred 
pounds.  "Scandalous  immoralities"  soon  gained  currency,  growing  out  of 
"unguarded  conversation,"  and  the  Boston  ministry  refused  to  ordain  him. 
The  town  and  the  church  were  divided  in  their  opinions  as  to  the  wisdom 
of  a  settlement,  and  while  matters  were  undecided  Mr.  McSparran  re- 
turned to  England,  where  in  1720  he  joined  the  Episcopal  church  and  was 
admitted  to  deacon's  orders,  then  to  the  priesthood,  and  in  October  of  the 
same  year  was  commissioned  as  a  missionary  of  "The  Society  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,"  at  Narragansett  in  New 
England,  with  authority  to  officiate  at  Bristol,  Swansea  and  other  places 
where  there  were  members  of  the  Church  of  England  "destitute  of  a 
minister."  The  division  of  the  people  of  Bristol  over  Mr.  McSparran 
became  bitter  and  drove  a  wedge  of  separation  into  a  hitherto  harmonious 
and  united  people.  The  result  was  the  formation  of  St.  Michael's  Parish 
in  172 1,  towards  which  Mr.  McSparran  contributed  his  services  and  influ- 
ence. 

Rev.  Nathaniel  Cotton,  great-grandson  of  Rev.  John  Cotton,  of  Bos- 
ton, was  elected  pastor  by  the  Bristol  church,  December  22,  1720.  the  town 
confirming  the  choice.  He  died  in  1729,  leaving  the  record  of  "a  man  of 
flaming  zeal  and  undissembled  piety,  *  *  *  and  for  the  cause  of  Truth 
and  Righteousness  *  *  *  bold  as  a  lion."  Rev.  Barnabas  Taylor  was 
minister  from  1729  to  1740,  and  was  followed  by  Rev.  John  Burt  from 
1 741  to  1775.  From  seventy-seven  members  the  church  grew  to  one  hun- 
dred and  forty-two  members  in  full  communion,  and  an  added  one  hun- 
dred and  eighteen  under  the  halfway  covenant,  the  latter  membership 
being  based  on  infant  baptism  and  not  on  Christian  experience.  During 
his  ministry  the  churches  of  Barrington,  Warren,  Bristol,  Tiverton  and 
Little  Compton  passed  from  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts  to  Rhode 
Island. 

Little  Compton  Congregational  Church  has  an  interesting  history. 
Tlie  town  was  incorporated  in   1682,  and  one-thirty-second  part  of  the 


RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES  593 

land  was  set  apart  in  1674  for  "the  exclusive  use  of  the  ministry."  In 
1685  the  General  Court  of  riymouth  ordered  the  neighborhood  to  raise 
fifteen  pounds  "for  the  encouragement  of  some  one  to  preach  the  Word 
of  Go<l  among  them."  Twelve  years  later,  "in  public  town  meeting." 
Eliphalet  Adams  was  chosen  the  religious  teacher  of  the  town,  September 
7,  1697,  continuing  his  labors  until  September,  1700.  In  November,  1700, 
Rev.  Peter  Thatcher,  of  Middleboro,  and  Rev.  John  Danforth,  of  Taun- 
ton, visit  the  town  and  l)ai)tize  sixty-five  per.sons.  In  1701  Mr.  John 
Clarke  and  Mr.  Richard  Billings  are  acting  ministers,  and  in  1704,  No- 
vember 30,  Mr.  Billings  was  ordained  and  a  church  organized  with  ten 
male  members — William  Pabodie,  Thomas  Gray,  William  Pabodie,  Jr., 
Joseph  Blackman.  James  Bennett,  Joseph  Church,  Jonathan  Davenport, 
John  Palmer,  John  Church  and  Sylvester  Richmond.  Plymouth  family 
names  appear  in  the  new  church,  evidence  of  an  awakening  from  the  era 
of  witchcraft  and  persecution  of  Quakers  and  Baptists  to  a  new  order  in 
life  and  practise.  It  was  the  day  of  preparation  for  the  great  revival  of 
1720  and  for  the  later  services  of  Jonathan  Edwards,  Ezra  Stiles  and 
George  Whitefield. 

In  1723  the  congregation  built  a  meeting  house  forty-two  feet  long, 
thirty-eight  feet  wide  and  twenty-eight  feet  between  joints.  Religion 
flourished  and  men,  women  and  Indians  came  into  the  church.  During 
the  Edwards  revival  seventy-five  joined  the  church.  Mr.  Hillings  died  in 
1748.  after  a  ministry  of  forty-seven  years,  during  which  time  he  had 
baptized  seven  hundred  and  twenty-«ight  persons,  had  received  one  hun- 
dred and  ninety-eight  into  the  church,  and  performed  the  holy  rite  of 
marriage  to  two  hundred  and  forty-two  couples,  besides  establishing  an 
Indian  mission  in  the  remnant  of  the  Sakonnet  tribe. 

Other  results  of  Mr.  Billings'  work  appeared  in  the  organization  of 
a  Congregational  church  in  the  adjoining  town,  Tiverton,  when  on  August 
18,  1746,  eight  men  and  fifteen  women  are  dismissed  from  this  church  to 
form  a  new  church  in  the  adjoining  town,  Tiverton. 

Rev.  Jonathan  Ellis  was  for  thirty-six  years  minister  of  the  Little 
Compton  church,  1749-1785.  His  successor  was  Rev.  Mase  Shepard, 
Rev.  Samuel  Hopkins,  of  Newport,  founder  of  Hopkinsianism,  presiding 
at  his  ordination,  September  19,  1787.  The  "refreshments"  served  on  the 
occasion  at  the  house  of  Captain  George  Simmons  included  "four  gallons 
of  mm,  three  gallons  of  wine,  one  gallon  of  brandy,  one  hundred  and 
forty-five  pounds  of  veal,  twenty  pounds  of  ham,  twelve  pounds  of  pork 
and  fourteen  pounds  of  beef."  The  General  Assembly  had  authorized 
the  Congregational  society  to  raise  six  hundred  pounds  of  the  paper  money 
of  the  Colony  for  the  purpose  of  building  a  parsonage  for  the  new  minis- 
ter.   It  is  of  special  interest  to  note  the  moral  standards  of  that  time,  less 

R  1-38 


594  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

than  a  century  and  half  ago.  when  the  rehgious  teacher  of  the  people  was 
ordained  midst  the  convivials  of  rum,  wine  and  brandy,"  and  lived  in  a 
house  erected  by  the  funds  flowing  from  the  ill-gotten  gains  of  a  lottery. 
Mr.  Shepard  was  an  able  preacher  and  an  admirable  pastor,  winning  the 
love  of  the  people  "by  his  peculiar  sociability,  amiability  and  dignity." 
With  Rev.  Samuel  Hopkins  and  Rev.  William  Patten,  of  Newport,  he  was 
a  co-founder  of  the  Rhode  Island  Missionary  Society.  During  his  minis- 
try, Lemuel  Sisson,  of  Newport,  located  his  home  at  Sakonnet,  wherein 
the  first  Methodist  meeting  was  held  in  town  about  1820  and  preaching 
services  held. 

Prior  to  the  organization  of  the  Tiverton  church  in  1746,  the  people 
of  the  devout  religious  type  had  worshipped  in  their  own  homes  or  in  the 
more  public  congregation  at  Compton  Commons,  bound  as  they  were  to 
the  ancient  Pilgrim  town  and  church  at  Plymouth. 

As  to  Congregationalism  at  Newport,  evidence  cumulatory  has 
already  been  given  of  the  primacy  of  the  church  of  the  Puritan  Congre- 
gationalist.  Rev.  Dr.  Daniel  Goodwin,  a  credited  historian  and  an  Epis- 
copalian, says.  "It  is  claimed,  indeed,  with  a  considerable  show  of  evi- 
dence, that  there  was  an  inchoate  formation  of  a  Puritan  church  on  the 
Island  of  Aquidneck  at  the  beginning  of  the  settlement,  not  later  than 
1639."  Callender,  in  1738,  declared  that  the  people  who  settled  Aquid- 
neck from  Boston  "were  Puritans  of  the  highest  form.  *  *  *  One  of 
their  first  cares,  both  at  Portsmouth  and  at  Newport,  was  to  build  a  Meet- 
ing Plouse,  which  I  .suppose  was  designed  for  public  worship.  *  *  * 
Those  who  came  away  (from  Boston)  were  most  of  them  long  esteemed 
as  brethren  of  the  church,  and  never  censured  by  the  church  at  all.  *  *  * 
They  depended  on  the  assistance  of  Mr.  Wheelwright,  a  famous  congre- 
gational minister.  *  *  *  But  he  chose  to  go  to  Long  Island.  *  *  *  In 
the  meantime,  Mr.  John  Clarke,  who  was  a  man  of  letters,  carried  on  a 
public  worship,  etc."  With  such  a  beginning  of  an  orthodo.x  church, 
with  a  constituency,  at  the  outset  of  the  Puritan  faith,  it  is  reasonable  to 
assume  that  a  church  was  established,  even  if  we  have  no  records  to  estab- 
lish the  fact  and  no  traditions  exist  relating  to  its  history.  In  the  light  of 
all  the  historic  evidence  in  our  possession  we  are  forced  to  conclude  that 
a  true  Congregational  church  was  organized  at  Newport  in  1639,  and 
another  at  Portsmouth  in  1638,  with  Dr.  John  Clarke  as  the  regular  minis- 
ter over  both  churches.  These  churches  were  free  from  all  prelatical 
forms  and  seem  to  be  the  first  churches  organized  in  America  on  thor- 
oughly modern  principles  of  Congregational  polity.  And  this  was  at  a 
time  when  both  the  Pilgrims  at  Plymouth  and  the  Puritans  at  Boston  were 
holding  to  a  state-church  or  to  modified  forms  of  prelacy,  with  a  mixture 
of  the  spirit  of  intolerance,  at  least  towards  Baptists  and  Quakers. 

Callender  relates  that  "in  1695  several  ministers  of  the  Massachu- 


RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES  595 

setts  Colony  came  and  preached  here  to  some  who  desired  it.  The  next 
year  there  was  a  meeting  house  erected,  in  which  the  pubhc  worship  of 
God  was  maintained  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Xathaniel  Clapp.  In  1720  there 
was  a  church  in  the  Congregational  scheme  gathered,  and  he  was  ordained 
the  pastor,  and  is  still  alive  (1738).  laboring  in  the  word  and  doctrine. 
In  1728  there  was  another  church  formed  out  of  this;  the  present  pastor, 
the  Rev.  Mr.  James  Scaring."  This  new  church  growth  was  from  the  seed 
planted  on  the  Island  in  1638.  Mr.  Clapp  was  of  a  Dorchester  family  of 
founders,  a  graduate  of  Harvard,  who  went  to  Newport,  "by  the  advice 
of  the  minister  of  Boston."  The  story  of  his  ministry  at  Newport,  as  it 
comes  to  us,  reveals  a  singularly  eccentric  man  in  a  singularly  novel  ex- 
perience. His  early  zeal  as  a  preacher  added  members  to  his  church,  hut 
after  three  years  he  refused  to  administer  the  Holy  Communion,  on  the 
ground  that  the  church  was  impure  and  "not  of  sufficiently  holy  conversa- 
tion for  the  ordinance,"  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  these  members 
were  converts  of  his  own  teachings  and  admitted  to  the  church  by  his 
approval.  He  even  refused  his  consent  to  their  written  request  to  be 
allowed  sacramental  privileges  at  other  churches.  A  protest  was  made 
against  his  prelatical  spirit  and  methods,  to  which  he  replied:  "I  came 
hither  by  the  advice  of  the  Rev.  Minister  of  Boston ;  I  have  continued  here 
by  his  advice ;  I  have  preached  the  Gospel  here ;  as  for  you  who  are  trying 
to  drive  me  away,  I  would  have  you  consider  the  awful  account  you  will 
have  to  give  for  the  damnation  of  the  souls  that  will  be  lost  for  the  want 
of  my  preaching."  For  unadulterated  egotism,  mingled  with  the  temper 
of  a  Presbyterian  synod  and  the  authority  of  a  canonical  bishop,  Mr. 
Qapp's  treatment  of  his  church  presents  a  fine  illustration.  He  certainly 
had  strayed  far  from  the  Congregational  fold  and  the  church  had  forgot- 
ten some  of  the  lessons  of  the  /Vnne  Hutchinson  period  of  independency 
and  the  Congregational  method  of  treating  refractory  ministers. 

A  colleague  was  proposed  as  a  happy  way  of  meeting  the  long  felt 
desire  of  the  people  for  a  change,  but  Mr.  Clapp  refused  to  accept  an 
assistant,  and  when  one  was  admitted  to  the  pulpit  he  refused  to  preach 
in  it  again,  withdrew  with  some  of  his  supporters  and  built  a  new  meeting 
house,  afterwards  used  by  the  Unitarians.  One  is  at  a  loss  to  understand 
how  a  minister  and  his  church  could  stand  at  cross  purposes  under  Con- 
gregational polity,  except  on  the  ancient  life-tenure  and  support  of  the 
orthodox  clergy.  Of  one  thing  we  are  assured,  that  Mr.  Clapp  was  held 
in  high  repute  as  a  preacher  and  a  citizen  of  the  town  and  had  a  good 
following  in  his  own  church  of  faithful  and  well-to-do  men  and  women. 

Callender,  in  his  "Century  Sermon,"  says  of  Mr.  Clapp:  "The  main 
stroke  in  his  character  was  his  eminent  sanctity.  *  *  *  He  was  a  public 
blessing  as  an  able  minister  of  the  New  Testament,  an  example  of  un- 
spotted piety  and  an  honor  to  religion."     Bishop  Berkely  jemarks :     "Be- 


596  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

fore  I  saw  Father  Oapp  I  thought  the  Bishop  of  Rome  had  the  most 
aspect  of  any  man  I  ever  saw  ;  but  really  the  minister  of  Newport  had  the 
most  venerable  appearance."  George  Whitefield  wrote  of  Mr.  Clapp  that 
"his  countenance  was  very  heavenly"  and  that  "he  prayed  most  affec- 
tionately for  a  blessing  on  my  coming  to  Rhode  Island.  *  *  *  I  could 
not  but  think  I  was  sitting  by  one  of  the  patriarchs."  It  was  Mr.  Clapp's 
habit  to  walk  about  the  town  in  a  black  velvet  cap  and  a  gown  with  a 
girdle,  the  pocket  on  one  side  filled  with  books  and  the  other  filled  with 
cakes,  with  which  he  purchased  of  the  street  boys  their  tops,  as  he  thought 
spinning  tops  a  sinful  amusement.  At  his  death  a  barrel  full  of  tops  was 
found  in  his  house.  After  a  ministry  of  fifty  years,  Mr.  Clapp  died  at 
Newport,  in  1745,  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine — a  Puritan  of  Puritans — an 
un-Congregational  Congregationalist — his  name  and  memory  survive  as 
a  type  of  the  founders  of  New  England — a  survivor  of  the  class  of  Wil- 
son, Endicott  and  Winthrop. 

The  two  Congregational  churches  at  Newport  came  into  great  promi- 
nence by  reason  of  their  pastors,  Rev.  Ezra  Stiles  and  Rev.  Samuel  Hop- 
kins, two  of  the  learned  and  distinguished  ministers  of  New  England. 
Mr.  Stiles,  a  graduate  of  Yale,  was  ordained  as  pastor  of  the  Second 
Church  in  1755,  at  the  age  of  twenty-seven.  His  precocity  is  evident  in 
the  fact  that  he  began  the  study  of  Latin  at  nine  years  of  age  and  was 
fitted  to  enter  college  at  twelve,  but  did  not  enter  until  he  was  fifteen, 
graduating  in  1746  with  the  reputation  of  being  the  most  accomplished 
scholar  that  had  ever  graduated.  He  accepted  a  tutorship  at  Yale  and 
performed  some  brilliant  experiments  in  electricity,  said  to  have  been  the 
first  in  New  England.  He  studied  law  and  practised  for  two  years,  when 
he  decided  to  enter  the  ministry.  To  his  great  abilities  as  a  student  of 
theology  and  preacher,  were  added  scholarly  studies  along  many  lines  of 
knowledge  in  matters  social,  literary,  scientific  and  economical,  all  of 
which  won  for  him  the  reputation  of  being  the  most  learned  man  in 
America.  His  correspondence  reached  out  to  eminent  men  in  all  parts 
of  the  world ;  the  colleges  of  Edinburgh,  Dartmouth  and  Princeton  con- 
ferred the  degrees  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  and  Doctor  of  Laws.  In  1767 
he  began  the  study  of  Hebrew  and  in  one  month  was  able  to  read  the 
whole  of  the  Psalms.  Dr.  Stiles  was  invited  to  the  presidency  of  Yale 
College  in  1777  and  held  that  office  at  his  death  in  1795.  His  administra- 
tion brought  prosperity  to  the  institution  and  gave  it  the  reputation  for 
sound  and  varied  learning.  In  the  extent  and  variety  of  his  learning. 
Dr.  Ezra  Stiles  was  the  peer  if  not  the  superior  of  all  men  of  his  genera- 
tion. He  was  eminent  for  piety,  patriotism  and  philanthropy,  was  an 
eloquent  preacher,  and  in  the  eulogy  of  Chancellor  Kent,  "was  distin- 
guished for  the  dignity  of  his  deportment,  the  politeness  of  his  address  and 
the  urbanity  of  his  manners." 


RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES  597 

Rev.  Samuel  Hopkins,  Connecticut-born  and  a  graduate  of  Yale,  as 
was  Stiles,  decided  on  the  ministry  for  his  life-work,  and  for  two  years 
was  a  student  of  theology  under  Rev.  Jonathan  Edwards,  at  that  time  the 
most  profound  theologian  of  his  day.  He  was.ordained  at  Great  Barring- 
ton,  Massachusetts,  in  1743,  and  continued  as  pastor  of  the  Congrega- 
tional church  there  until  1769.  In  1770  Mr.  Hopkins  was  called  to  New- 
port and  after  preaching  some  time,  a  meeting  of  the  church  was  called 
and  it  was  voted  not  to  invite  him  to  settle  there,  as  many  were  not  in 
agreement  w'ith  his  doctrinal  views.  He  made  his  plans  to  leave  New- 
port and  preached  his  farewell  sermon,  as  he  supposed.  This  sermon  was 
so  interesting  and  impressive  that  the  minds  and  hearts  of  the  people  were 
changed  in  his  favor,  another  vote  was  immediately  taken  and  passed, 
almost  unanimously,  to  settle  him  as  their  pastor  and  he  consented  to  re- 
main. During  the  occupation  of  Newport  by  the  British  and  the  meeting 
house  by  the  troops,  Mr.  Hopkins  withdrew  to  Massachusetts,  returning 
to  Newport  in  1780  to  find  the  meeting  house  half  destroyed  and  his 
people  scattered  and  impoverished.  He  resolved  to  share  their  hardships 
and  continued  his  ministry  until  his  death  in  1803.  He  was  an  early  advo- 
cate of  the  emancipation  of  negro  slaves  and  set  an  example  by  freeing  his 
own.  He  set  on  foot  the  movement  to  return  liberated  negroes  to  Africa. 
The  agitation  he  started  resulted  in  the  law  of  1774,  forbidding  the  im- 
portation of  negroes  into  the  Colony,  followed  by  the  act  of  1785,  declar- 
ing all  children  of  slave  parents  should  be  freeborn. 

He  was  the  author  and  expounder  of  a  modified  Calvinism,  known  as 
"Hopkinsianism,"  for  the  understanding  of  which  his  published  works 
must  be  studied.  He  is  said  to  have  spent  from  fourteen  to  sixteen  hours 
a  day  in  his  study,  and  was  named  for  the  presidency  of  Princeton  Col- 
lege on  the  grounds  of  learning  and  theological  acumen.  Moses  Brown, 
of  Providence,  was  an  intimate  friend  and  admirer  of  Dr.  Hopkins.  His 
theological  views  were  taught  by  his  students,  among  whom  were  Dr. 
Samuel  Spring,  Dr.  Nathaniel  Emmons,  Rev.  Thomas  Williams,  Rev.  VV 
E.  Channing  and  the  poet  VVhittier.  He  was  the  original  of  one  of  the 
principal  characters  in  Mrs.  Stowe's  "Minister's  Wooing."  Newport  was 
certainly  a  privileged  community  during  the  last  half  of  the  eighteenth 
century  in  the  citizenship,  and  in  the  moral  and  intellectual  life  awakened 
by  the  teachings  of  the  two  learned  ministers  of  the  Congregational  Puri- 
tan faith,  Rev.  Ezra  Stiles  and  Rev.  Samuel  Hopkins. 

The  Congregational  church  at  Kingston  was  a  child  of  the  First 
Church,  Boston,  as  was  the  Congregational  church  at  Newport.  Gov- 
ernor Arnold  states  that  "this  church  and  that  at  Newport  are  the  earliest 
churches  of  their  order  in  Rhode  Island."  It  is  well  known  that  the  Petta- 
quamscutt  Purchasers  were  members  of  the  Boston  church,  while  most  of 
the  pioneer  settlers  were  from  Newport,  where  Congregationalists  and 


598  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

Baptists,  after  1644,  held  ecclesiastical  control.  As  all  these  migrant  peo- 
ples held  religious  leadings,  churchwise,  it  is  probable  that  the  immi- 
grants to  the  Narragansett  lands  were  of  both  the  Newport  orders  of 
faith — Baptist  and  Congregationalist — the  Baptist  being  the  stronger  ele- 
ment. It  is  easy  to  see  that  a  widely  scattered  people  would  find  tre- 
mendous obstacles  in  their  way  in  the  establishment  of  a  religious  order, 
ceremonials  and  houses  of  worship  in  a  wilderness  land,  while  the  faith 
and  life  were  jealously  cherished  in  the  family  and  widely  severed  neigh- 
borhood circles  in  Narragansett.  Roads  there  were  none,  bridges  none; 
the  woods  were  full  of  wild  beasts  and  savages ;  log  huts,  with  small 
clearings  in  the  forests,  were  the  homes,  the  forts,  the  school  houses,  the 
sanctuaries  of  South  county  for  almost  a  century.  The  religious  problem 
of  the  day  was  to  get  bread,  clothing  and  protection  for  the  family,  and 
was  widely  separated  from  the  dogmas  of  any  church. 

The  Narragansett  lands  were  an  excellent  missionary  field  in  the 
closing  years  of  the  seventeenth  century  and  hither  came  a  Rev.  Mr. 
Woodward  from  Dedham,  Massachusetts,  in  1695,  to  seek  out  the  lost 
sheep  of  the  orthodox  fold,  scattered  in  the  Kingstown  woods  and  clear- 
ings. He  was  succeeded  by  Henry  Flint,  and  he,  in  1702,  by  Samuel 
Niles,  born  on  Block  Island,  a  graduate  of  Harvard  in  1699,  the  first 
student  at  Harvard  from  Rhode  Island,  who  preached  at  Kingstown  until 
1710.  In  his  latter  years.  Rev.  Mr.  Niles  returned  to  Rhode  Island  and 
became  pastor  of  a  church  in  Charlestovwi,  composed  chiefly  of  Indians 
of  the  Niantic  tribe.  Among  his  descendants  were  Hon.  Samuel  Niles, 
of  Braintree ;  Rev.  Samuel  Niles,  of  Abington,  and  Hon.  Nathaniel  Niles, 
born  in  South  Kingstown  in  1741 — a  judge,  a  member  of  United  States 
Congress  and  the  author  of  a  popular  Revolutionary  song,  "The  Ameri- 
can Hero."  Rev.  Samuel  Niles  was  the  author  of  several  books,  histori- 
cal and  theological — the  best  known  a  "History  of  the  French  and  Indian 
Wars."  While  it  is  probable  that  a  meeting  house  was  built  on  Tower 
Hill  before  171 1,  and  that  services  were  held  in  the  interval  between  the 
ministries  of  Mr.  Niles  in  1710  and  that  of  Rev.  Josiah  Torrey,  about  173'!, 
there  are  no  records  relating  to  either.  Mr.  Torrey  was  the  son  of  Rev. 
Samuel  Torrey,  a  fellow  of  Harvard  College,  of  which  the  son  was  a 
graduate.  On  May  17,  1732,  a  church  was  organized  at  Tower  Hill  and 
Mr.  Torrey  was  ordained  its  pastor,  fulfilling  most  faithfully  and  accept- 
ably the  duties  of  his  ministerial  office  until  17911 — one  of  the  longest  New 
England  pastorates. 

An  interesting  and  prolonged  suit-at-Iaw  was  carried  on  by  the  Kings- 
town church  relative  to  some  lands,  the  gift  of  the  Pettaquamscutt  pur- 
chasers, "as  an  encouragement  *  *  *  for  an  orthodox  person,  that  shall 
be  obtained  to  preach  God's  Word  to  the  inhabitants."  It  seems  the  gift 
was  made  on  June  4,  1668,  but  no  conveyance  was  made,  and  in  1702,  no 


RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES  599 

one  claiming  tiie  land — three  hundred  acres — Henry  Garder  took  twenty 
acres  and  James  Bundy  the  remainder*  In  1732  Rev.  Mr.  Torrey  laid 
claim  to  the  land,  as  the  minister  of  the  "orthodox"  church.  In  1720 
Rev.  Dr.  McSparran,  a  missionary  of  the  Church  of  England,  took  up 
his  residence  and  the  struggle  for  the  benefits  of  the  land  was  transferred 
to  the  English  land  courts,  where,  in  1732,  Mr.  Torrey  was  granted  pos- 
session of  two  hundred  and  eighty  acres.  The  contest  did  not  end  here, 
but  it  was  claimed  by  the  Episcopal  church  that  as  it  was  the  first  to 
organize  a  church  in  that  section,  it  was  entitled  to  the  land.  In  1752  the 
King  and  Council  at  London  made  a  final  decision  that  the  gift  was  made 
by  persons  of  the  Puritan  church  of  Boston  for  the  support  of  an  "ortho- 
dox" religious  teacher,  and  that  it  rightfully  belonged  to  the  Congrega- 
tional church  in  Kingstown,  and  was  not  intended  for  a  church  under 
the  Episcopal  form  of  government. 

Congregationalists  were  slow  in  establishing  a  church  of  their  faith 
at  Providence.  The  reasons  are  obvious.  Boston  was  the  chief  port  of 
entry  for  New  England,  and  the  Congregational  churches  of  Massachu- 
setts welcomed  all  of  that  church  order.  Providence  had  the  reputation 
of  receiving  believers  and  unbelievers  alike,  and  a  multiplicity  of  sects, 
repudiated  by  Plymouth  and  the  Bay,  found  refuge  here.  It  is  well 
known  that  "orthodox"  people  had  settled  at  Providence  and  had  held 
meetings,  more  or  less  regular,  at  private  houses,  but  Judge  Staples  re- 
lates, "In  those  days  of  enthusiasm  and  bigotry,  great  must  have  been  the 
inducement  which  could  have  led  any  orthodox  religionists  to  take  up  their 
abode  in  such  a  place,  in  point  of  religion,  as  Providence  was  represented 
and  believed  to  be." 

In  1720  the  movement  became  public  to  establish  a  church  and  build 
a  meeting  house  for  Congregational  worship,  and  a  letter  missive  was 
sent  to  Hon.  Joseph  Jenckes,  Jonathan  Sprague  and  others,  written  by 
Rev.  Peter  Thatcher,  a  Congregational  minister  of  Massachusetts,  recit- 
ing the  pious  motives  which  inspired  the  movement  and  asking  the  coun- 
tenance, encouragement  and  cooperation  of  a  large  group  of  persons 
named  in  the  address.  The  reply,  written  by  Rev.  Jonathan  Sprague,  a 
Baptist  minister  at  Providence,  was  caustic  and  contemptuous,  express- 
ing little  of  the  spirit  of  toleration  and  none  of  Christian  sympathy  and 
welcome.  Epithets  such  as  these  were  flung  at  the  incoming  Congre- 
gationalists :  "Flatterers,"  "serving  their  own  belly,"  "language  of  Babel," 
"false  prophets  which  daub  with  untempered  mortar,"  "darkness  itself," 
"your  ministers,  for  the  most  part,  were  never  set  up  by  God,  but  have 
consecrated  themselves ;"  "come  to  us  in  sheep's  clothing,  but  inwardly  are 
ravening  wolves ;"  "briars  and  thorns  of  the  wilderness,"  etc.,  etc.  Such 
an  address  from  "eminent  men  in  the  town  of  Providence,"  written  by  a 
Baptist  divine,  must  have  made  stout  men  quail  before  the  religious  cen- 


6oo  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

sors  of  Rogpr  Williams'  town.  Its  spirit  and  language  are  quite  in  har- 
mony with  the  welcome  to  Samuel  Gorton,  by  Mr.  Williams,  a  century 
earlier.  Both  are  in  sharp  contrast  with  the  traditional  "What  Cheer"  of 
the  savages  in  1638.  "Alas  for  the  rarity  of  Christian  charity  under  the 
sun." 

Surprise  arises  not  from  the  fact  that  a  Congregational  church  was 
so  late  in  its  organization  at  Providence,  but  rather  that  there  were  enough 
brave  men  and  women  at  that  time  to  take  such  a  step  in  the  face  of  the 
spirit  of  bigotry  and  intolerance  shown  by  the  Sprague  letter. 

Dr.  Hoyle,  one  of  the  original  members  of  the  church,  had  raised 
some  money  to  build  a  meeting  house  in  Providence  in  1721,  at  the  corner 
of  Pawtuxet  avenue  and  High  street,  but  as  the  location  was  not  approved 
by  the  majority  in  interest,  a  site  was  chosen  at  the  southwest  corner  of 
Benefit  and  College  streets,  where  a  house  of  worship  was  built  in  1723. 
In  1794  the  Congregational  society  sold  this  house  to  the  town  of  Provi- 
dence for  a  town  house  and  erected  a  larger  and  an  elegant  meeting  house 
at  the  corner  of  Benevolent  and  Benefit  streets,  which  was  dedicated  Au- 
gust 16,  1795.  This  house  was  built  of  wood,  seventy-one  by  eighty-seven 
feet  on  the  ground.  The  front  was  ornamented  by  two  spires,  adding,  by 
their  fine  proportions,  remarkable  architectural  beauty  to  the  edifice,  the 
whole  being  a  copy  of  one  of  the  most  beautiful  churches  in  Boston.  Mr. 
Caleb  Ormsbee  was  the  architect.  This  house  was  destroyed  by  fire  June 
14,  1814,  and  the  cornerstone  of  a  larger  and  more  elegant  structure,  with 
a  single  spire,  was  laid  May  29,  181 5,  and  the  completed  house  dedicated 
October  31.  of  the  same  year.  The  architect  of  the  present  meeting  house 
was  Mr.  John  H.  Greene,  to  whose  genius  and  skill  its  achitectural  beau- 
ties are  credited. 

In  1724  Rev.  Samuel  Moody,  a  graduate  of  Harvard,  preached  in  the 
new  meeting  house,  attracting  good  audiences  and  baptizing  sixteen  per- 
sons who  formed  the  nucleus  of  the  church.  The  first  settled  minister 
was  Rev.  Josiah  Cotton,  a  graduate  of  Harvard  and  brother  of  Rev. 
Nathaniel  Cotton,  of  Bristol,  both  being  grandsons  of  Rev.  John  Cotton, 
of  Boston.  The  ordination  of  Mr.  Cotton  and  the  organization  of  the  First 
Congregational  Church  of  nine  members  took  place  on  the  same  day,  in 
the  autumn  of  1728.  Eighteen  Congregational  churches  of  Massachu- 
setts, Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island  were  represented  in  the  council  by 
pastors  and  elders.  About  forty  bandmen,  mounted  attendants  upon  the 
ministers,  and  a  large  number  of  candidates  for  the  ministry,  with  a  great 
concourse  of  visiting  people  from  Congregational  churches,  near  and  far, 
made  an  occasion,  "the  like  of  which  as  to  ministers  and  churches,  this 
North  America  never  saw." 

Mr.  Cotton's  faithful  but  unfruitful  ministry  ended,  at  his  own  re- 
quest, in  1747,  and  the  pastoral  office  and  work  were  continued  by  Rev. 


RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES  6oi 

John  Bass  from  1752  to  1758,  by  David  S.  Rowland  to  1774,  then  fol- 
lowed the  distinguished  ministerial  services  of  Rev.  Enos  Hitchcock,  who 
gave  literally  of  services  and  money  for  the  social,  moral  and  educational 
upbuilding  of  the  town.  Dr.  Hall,  a  successor,  said  of  him,  "The  charac- 
ter of  his  mind,  the  working  of  his  heart,  the  creed  of  his  life,  might  be 
written  in  a  line:  'faith,  hope  and  charily,'  these  three,  but  the  greatest 
of  these  is  charity."  His  successors  in  the  pastorate  were  Rev.  Henry 
Edes,  of  Boston,  1805-1832,  and  Rev.  Edward  B.  Hall,  1832-1866.  Dr. 
Hall  was  an  able  preacher,  a  wise  pastor  and  an  influential  citizen,  whose 
influence  in  church  and  town  affairs  was  strong  and  healthful. 

In  1770  "the  Benevolent  Congregational  Society"  was  incorporated 
for  raising  and  holding  funds  for  the  support  of  public  worship — the 
first  charter  granted  for  such  a  purpose  in  Rhode  Island. 

The  student  of  the  religious  history  of  New  England  of  the  first 
half  of  the  eighteenth  century  will  find  a  wide  departure  in  faith  and 
life  from  the  Puritan  standards.  The  ministers  were  preaching  the  cove- 
nant of  good  works — "damnable  good  works" — while  the  people  had 
become  despiritualized  for  want  of  a  living  faith.  The  idealism  of  the 
founders  had  degenerated  into  low  standards  of  thought  and  life.  The 
"Half-Way  Covenant"  had  weakened  orthodoxy  almost  to  the  breaking 
point.  Intemperance  and  social  evils  were  sapping  the  currents  of  physi- 
cal and  moral  energy.  The  clergy  saw  and  felt  the  evil  of  the  day,  but 
were  blind  leaders  of  the  blind  without  vision  and  void  of  understanding 
as  to  spiritual  uplift  and  enlightenment.  Three  men  were  providentially 
raised  up  to  arouse  a  sleeping  church  from  its  long,  deep  lethargy — to  utter 
a  new  note,  to  herald  "the  Great  Awakening."  Jonathan  Edwards,  of 
New  England;  George  Whitefield  and  John  Wesley,  of  Old  England, 
were  the  trinity  of  voices,  Boanerges-like,  to  arouse  the  people  to  the 
crowning  need  of  that  age  and  of  all  ages,  the  presence  of  the  living 
God  in  the  souls  of  men.  Anne  Hutchinson,  at  Boston,  a  century  earlier, 
had  tried  to  articulate  the  spiritual  message,  but  her  voice — the  voice  of  a 
woman — fell  on  unwilling  ears  and  creed-hardened  hearts.  The  New 
England  wilderness  waited  a  crier  and  found  him  at  Northampton,  Massa- 
chusetts, where  in  1735-36  Rev.  Jonathan  Edwards  began  his  great  work 
of  preaching  justification  by  faith,  w'hich  was  taken  up  by  Whitefield  and 
the  Wesleys,  bringing  in  the  great  reformation  of  the  life  and  thought  of 
a  great  body  of  the  people  of  the  .American  Colonies,  so  powerful  was  its 
influence  as  to  be  called  "The  Great  Awakening." 

Rhode  Island  came  under  the  arousal  of  these  spiritual  forces  and 
the  First  Church  at  Providence  received  the  new  message  with  divided 
interest,  as  did  most  of  the  Congregational  churches  of  the  neighborhood. 
Cotton,  of  Providence;  Burt,  of  Bristol;  Townsend,  of  Barrington; 
Greenwood  and  Turner,  of  Rehoboth,  and  White  and  Avery,  of  Norton, 


6o2  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

entered  their  public  protest  against  Whitefield's  preaching,  wherein  he 
had  declared  that  "many,  nay  most  that  preach,  I  fear,  do  not  experi- 
mentally know  Christ  and  the  universities  are  become  dark — darkness  in 
the  abstract."  These  ministers  replied :  "It  appeareth  to  us  that  the 
Devil  with  all  his  cunning  could  not  take  a  more  direct  step  to  overthrow 
these  churches,  hurt  religion  and  the  souls  of  men."  The  history  of  the 
great  Edwards-Wesley- Whitefield  revival  shows  that  the  fears  of  these 
good  men  were  not  justified,  for,  in  fact,  it  was  the  great  moral  prepara- 
tion for  the  multiplication  of  churches  and  the  deliverance  of  multitudes 
of  souls  from  the  bonds  of  a  low,  material  life;  it  proved  to  be  also  the 
energizing  and  unifying  force  that  gave  wisdom  and  courage  for  the  years 
in  which  the  struggle  for  our  Colonial  liberties  was  begun  and  carried  to 
a  successful  issue.  Every  great  civil  revolution  must  have  a  broad  and 
deep  moral  basis. 

Mr.  Cotton's  church,  at  Providence,  was  deeply  stirred  by  the  new 
Gospel  of  Grace,  "the  doctrine  of  Personal  Conversion  and  the  need  of  a 
Christian  Experience"  as  preached  by  the  great  evangelists  of  the  day. 
One  of  these  fervently  pious  men  was  Rev.  Gilbert  Tennent,  a  gifted 
Irish  preacher,  who  awakened  many  souls  to  a  new  life  on  his  visit  at 
Providence  in  1741.  A  majority  of  Mr.  Cotton's  church,  judging  their 
pastor  "destitute  of  sound  evangelical  principles,"  withdrew  from  his 
pastoral  care  and  began  religious  meetings  in  1743 — the  first  that  were 
statedly  attended  and  maintained  on  the  west  side  of  the  river.  The 
Seceders,  made  up  of  the  most  prominent  people  of  the  First  Church, 
near  fifty  in  number,  started  the  new  organization  called  the  Beneficent 
Congregational  Church  and  chose  Joseph  Snow,  Jr.,  a  lay  brother,  a  house 
carpenter  by  trade,  to  be  their  pastor  and  teacher.  The  Separatists  were 
suspended  from  Mr.  Cotton's  church,  March  25,  1744,  and  soon  after  built 
a  meeting  house  on  a  lot  given  them  by  Daniel  Abbott,  using  timber  cut 
upon  the  land  by  Pastor  Snow  and  some  of  the  brethren  of  the  church'. 
The  original  house  was  built  of  wood,  and  originally  measured  thirty-six 
by  forty  feet.  Its  spire,  in  1772,  was  about  one  hundred  feet  in  height. 
The  bell,  now  in  use,  was  imported  from  England  in  1760.  Under  Mr. 
Snow  the  church  and  congregation  outgrew  the  house  of  worship,  thereby 
requiring  additions  to  be  made  to  it,  to  accommodate  what  was  called 
"The  Peoples'  Church,"  "The  New  Light  Church,"  and  "Father  Snow's 
Church."  In  1771  the  congregation  numbered  one  hundred  and  forty 
families,  the  largest  in  town.  The  meeting  house  was  also  the  largest,  and 
the  first  three  commencements  of  Rhode  Island  College  were  celebrated  in 
it,  before  the  First  Baptist  meeting  house  was  built.  Rev.  George  White- 
field,  Bishop  Asbury  and  many  other  noted  ministers  of  the  Gospel 
preached  in  the  old  house.  In  1764,  as  the  fruit  of  Whitefield's  preaching, 
eighty-five  were  added  to  the  church.    In  1775  twenty-seven  new  members 


RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES  603 

were  added.  Nicholas  Cooke,  the  War  Governor  of  Rhode  Island,  was 
a  member  of  the  Beneficent  Church.  "Father  Snow"  continued  "the 
beloved  pastor  of  a  united  people"  until  1793 — a  period  of  fifty  years  from 
1743.  During  this  time  two  hundred  and  eighty-three  members  were 
added  to  the  Beneficent  Church.  Rev.  James  Wilson,  a  native  of  Ireland, 
became  a  colleague  of  Mr.  Snow  in  I7<li,  and  assumed  the  full  pastorate 
in  1793,  when  "Father  Snow"  withdrew  and  formed  a  new  religious 
society  known  as  the  Richmond  Street  Congregational  Society.  The 
present  meeting  house  of  the  Beneficent  Church  was  erected  in  1809-10. 
Rev.  Mr.  Wilson,  the  pastor  at  that  time,  until  1839,  was  an  eloquent 
preacher  of  the  Wesleyan  order,  winning  a  large  congregation  to  spiritual 
worship  and  large  additions  to  the  church.  In  the  revival  of  1804.  one 
hundred  and  fifty  joined  the  church  and  about  eight  hundred  during  his 
ministry  of  forty-six  years.  In  1820  the  first  Sunday  school  was  organ- 
ized in  this  church.  Governor  William  Jones,  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
American  Board  for  Foreign  Missions,  attended  its  services.  A  warm 
friendship  existed  between  Rev.  Mr.  Wilson  and  Rev.  Dr.  Hitchcock,  of 
the  First  Church,  on  Benefit  street. 

In  1772  a  number  of  Congregationalists  at  East  Greenwich  petitioned 
the  General  Assembly  for  a  lottery  to  raise  $1,500  to  build  a  meeting 
house.  The  request  was  granted,  the  money  raised  and  the  house  built, 
but  there  is  no  historic  record  of  a  church  or  religious  services  in  that 
town  until  1815,  when  Rev.  Daniel  Waldo  preached  and  organized  a 
church.  Rev.  Dr.  Benedict,  in  his  "History-  of  the  Baptists,"  published  in 
1813,  states  that  there  were  eleven  Congregational  churches  in  Rhode 
Island,  with  about  one  thousand  communicants.  They  included  the 
churches  at  Seekonk,  Barrington,  Bristol,  Tiverton,  Little  Compton,  New- 
port two,  Kingston,  Providence  two  and  East  Greenwich. 

Since  1800  the  following  Congregational  churches  have  been  organ- 
ized in  Rhode  Island :  Auburn,  Swedish,  1895  ;  Central  Falls,  1845  >  Che- 
packet,  1846;  Cranston  (Franklin),  1873;  Cranston,  Edgewood,  1873; 
Crompton,  Swedish,  1890;  East  Greenwich,  Swedish,  1894;  Riverside, 
1881;  United,  1889;  Hope,  1904;  Newport,  Union,  1812;  Pawtucket, 
First,  1829;  Park  Place,  1882;  Smithfield  Avenue.  1892:  Darlington, 
1908;  Swedish,  1892;  Peace  Dales,  1857;  Providence,  Armenian  Evan- 
gical,  T892;  Free  Evangelical,  1843:  Central,  1852;  Peoples,  1912;  L^nion, 
1871 ;  Plymouth,  1878:  .^cademy  Avenue,  1883:  Free,  Swedish,  1888: 
River  Point,  First,  1849;  Saylcsville,  1880;  Slatersville,  1815;  Thornton, 
1889;  Tiverton,  B.  F.  C,  1915;  Westerly,  Pawcatuck,  1843;  Wood  River 
Junction.  1895;  Woonsocket,  1834.  The  total  membership  of  the  Congre- 
gational churches  in  Rhode  Island  in  1917  was  9.802,  in  forty-one  organi- 
zations. The  earliest,  the  Newman  Church,  East  Providence,  founded  in 
1643,  the  latest  in  Tiverton,  in  19 13.     The  Sunday  schools  of  the  order 


6o4  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

number  7,984  members;  the  families,  7,679;  total  number  of  ministers, 
46;  Young  Peoples'  societies,  30,  with  1,316  members.  The  Rhode  Con- 
ference of  Congregational  Churches  held  its  one  hundred  and  tenth  annual 
meeting  at  Bristol,  Rhode  Island,  May,  191 7.  A  Congregational  Club  for 
social  purposes  has  existed  for  several  years. 

The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church. 

The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  has  been  for  a  century  and  more 
one  of  the  most  influential  organizations  in  directing  and  moulding  the 
religious  and  social  life  of  New  England,  as  well  as  the  country  at  large. 
One  would  almost  affirm  that  a  conservative  episcopacy  was  ill  suited  to 
the  work  of  upbuilding  democracy  and  democratic  institutions  on  the 
ground  of  inflexible  rules  of  church  government,  almost  infallible  dogmas 
and  a  prelatical  ecclesiasticism.  But  the  history  of  the  religious  life  of 
New  England  for  three  centuries,  more  particularly  of  Massachusetts 
and  Rhode  Island,  clearly  witnesses  the  fact  that  the  three  great  branches 
of  episcopacy  as  an  administrative  order  have  been  supporters  of  religious 
liberty  and  the  principles  of  self-government  as  illustrated  in  majority 
rule.  The  Puritan  church  was  only  a  branch  of  the  English  state-church 
and  never  formally  separated  from  its  communion.  The  leaders  of  the 
Massachusetts  Bay  Colony  on  leaving  England  did  not  cast  off  the  bonds 
of  the  church  of  their  fathers  and  friends  whom  they  left  behind,  as  had 
the  "Separatists"  of  Plymouth  Colony,  the  Pilgrims.  "We  will  not  say," 
said  Rev.  Francis  Higginson,  the  first  minister  of  the  Puritan  church  at 
Salem,  on  looking  back  at  the  receding  English  coast,  "We  will  not  say  as 
the  Separatists  were  wont  to  say  at  their  leaving  of  England,  'Farewell 
Babylon,  farewell  Rome  !'  but  we  will  say  'Farewell,  dear  England !  Fare- 
well, the  Church  of  God  in  England,  and  all  the  Christian  friends  there.' 
*  *  *  We  go  to  practice  the  positive  part  of  church  reformation,  and 
to  propagate  the  Gospel  in  America."  In  the  same  ship  that  brought 
Endicott  and  Higginson,  came  two  non-Puritan  members  of  the  Church 
of  England,  who  for  turbulent  and  seditious  conduct  were  transported 
on  the  next  ship  to  London,  but  those  who  remained  to  found  the  town  of 
Salem  were  still  amenable  to  the  laws  and  doctrines  of  the  Mother  Church 
and  held  her  history  and  traditions  as  a  sacred  legacy.  In  essentials  of 
faith  the  Puritan  and  the  Churchman  were  fully  agreed.  In  dress,  in 
ceremonials  and  in  extravagances  of  worship  they  differed.  In  church 
aqd  in  ministerial  support  they  agreed.  They  agreed  also  in  the  bishopric 
of  the  clergy  and  it  is  an  open  question  whether  Rev.  John  Wilson  and 
his  associates  in  the  clerical  order,  in  the  Bay  Colony,  did  not  exercise  as 
supreme  authority  in  the  discipline  accorded  to  Anne  Hutchinson  as  did 
the  English  clergy  in  the  discipline  of  English  heretics  across  the  sea.  If 
we  accept  the  testimony  of  Rev.  William  Blackstone,  the  first  Episcopal 


RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES  605 

clerg>Tnan  to  venture  across  tlie  ocean  to  New  England  in  1628,  "the  Lord 
brethren  of  Boston"  were  no  more  to  his  liking  than  "the  Lord  bishops" 
of  the  home  land,  and  he  fled  from  the  face  of  both  into  the  wilderness. 
Even  Samuel  Gorton,  the  mystic  philosopher  of  Rhode  Island,  in  an  ad- 
dress to  Charles  the  Second,  wrote:  "I  drew  my  tenets  from  the  breasts 
of  my  mother,  the  Church  of  England."  On  the  sailing  of  the  Arbella 
and  the  associate  fleet  of  ships  that  brought  Governor  John  Winthrop, 
William  Coddington,  Isaac  Johnson,  Richard  Saltonstall  and  a  thousand 
more  to  Salem  and  Boston,  Winthrop,  for  the  whole  Puritan  migration, 
wrote  and  sent  back  a  "F"arewell  Letter,"  addressed  to  "The  Reverend 
Fathers  and  Brothers  of  the  English  Church,"  from  which  they  were  part- 
ing. In  the  literary  annals  of  both  Englands,  no  piece  of  literature  c^n 
be  found  more  tender,  more  noble,  more  spiritual.  All  these  testimonies, 
and  more  than  might  be  cited,  indicate  the  close  relationship  of  the  Puri- 
tan Church  in  America  and  the  Mother  Church  in  England.  Looking 
through  and  behind  the  nonessentials  of  the  real  current  orthodoxy  of 
the  early  years  of  the  seventeenth  century,  we  are  assured  of  the  essential 
unity  of  the  two  bodies,  separated,  in  the  main,  by  the  Atlantic.  Nor 
does  it  appear  that  a  forma!  separation  was  ever  officially  debated  or 
declared.  Nor  was  the  Puritan  Church  ever  stricken  from  the  rolls  of 
the  Episcopal  Church  of  England.  As  was  the  English  State  clergy,  the 
Puritan  clergy  was  the  educated  class  in  New  England  early  history.  As 
such  they  not  only  expounded  the  Holy  Scriptures,  but  they  were  the 
most  capable  judges  of  heresy,  the  greatest  foe  of  Colonial  life  and  virtue. 
The  clergy  also  were  experts  in  the  English  civil  and  criminal  law  and 
sat  as  judges  in  matters  orthodox  and  heterodox.  Men  and  women  were 
sentenced  to  public  whippings  at  the  post  and  at  carts-tails,  to  imprison- 
ments, and  to  death  on  the  gallows,  by  the  advice  and  often  by  the  verdict 
of  the  State-ordained  clergy.  The  tragic  death  of  the  great  chief  Mian- 
tonomi  was  pronounced  by  the  clerics  of  the  Bay  Colony,  and  he  was 
slain  by  their  advice  and  full  consent. 

The  real  cleavage  began  when  the  High  Church  Puritan  partook  of 
the  spirit  of  persecution  and  aided  in  the  martyrdom  of  Baptists  and 
Quakers  in  the  Bay  Colony,  in  harmony  with  their  accredited  brethren 
across  the  sea,  and  when  the  Low  Church  party,  saturated  with  the  sjjirit 
of  civil  and  religious  freedom,  and  the  doctrines  of  a  more  spiritual  faith, 
broke  from  the  ancient  fold,  into  the  freer  ranges  of  democracy,  in  Con- 
gregationalism. Through  the  historic  evolution  of  a  century,  the  Presby- 
terian church  became  the  lineal  descendant  of  the  Puritan,  while  the  Con- 
gregationalists  and  Baptists,  differing  solely  in  the  mode  of  baptism,  but 
both  essentially  democratic,  came  into  the  larger  areas  of  orthodox  ser- 


6o6  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

vice  and  worship,  both  parties,  High  and  Low,  turning  their  backs  on 
their  ancestral  Hneage. 

The  Episcopal  church  of  England  and  America  tolerates  two  classes 
of  opinions — the  Anglo-Catholic  or  High  Church  and  the  Low  or  Broad 
Church  view.  In  both  Episcopacy  is  regarded  as  essential  to  the  church, 
but  the  Low  Church  adopts  the  view  that  while  the  Episcopate  is  desir- 
able and  necessary  for  the  well-being  of  the  church,  it  is  no  wise  indis- 
pensable. The  best  authorities  agree  that  the  Episcopate  developed  out 
of  the  presbyterate  and  that  there  are  only  two  orders  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment,— presbyters  and  deacons.  Bishop  Lightfoot  and  Dean  Stanley 
adopt  this  idea.  In  matters  of  systematic  theology.  Episcopal  and  non- 
Episcopal  churches  are  in  substantial  agreement. 

As  already  stated  Rev.  William  Blackstone  was  the  pioneer  clergyman 
of  the  Church  of  England  that  set  foot  on  Massachusetts  and  Rhode 
Island.  He  died  in  1675,  and  a  modest  marble  monument  bearing  a  brief 
record  of  his  life  has  been  erected  near  the  site  of  his  home  at  Study  Hill 
and  his  grave  at  its  base.  Fourteen  years  pass  and.  in  1689,  the  first 
wooden  King's  chapel  was  built  in  Boston;  a  year  later,  1690,  a  move- 
ment began  for  Christ  church,  Stratford,  Connecticut;  in  1695,  Christ 
Church,  Philadelphia,  built  the  first  edifice  for  Episcopal  worship  in 
Pennsylvania ;  and  the  organization  of  Trinity,  New  York,  began  in  1696, 
under  the  influence  of  Sir  Francis  Nicholson,  "the  original  founder  and 
first  patron  of  Trinity  Church." 

Mr.  Nicholson  was  a  devout  Churchman,  and  visiting  Newport,  at 
that  time  a  more  important  metropolis  than  New  York,  was  surprised  to 
find  that  there  was  no  gathering  for  worship  according  to  the  forms  of 
the  English  church.  Among  those  who  gladly  enlisted  in  the  movement 
for  founding  a  church  were  Gabriel  Bernon  and  Dr.  Pierre  Ayrault, 
Huguenot  refugees,  William  Brinley,  and  Robert  Gardner,  a  naval  officer 
and  collector  of  the  Port,  whose  gravestone  in  Trinity  churchyard  bears 
the  words,  "One  of  the  first  promoters  of  the  Church  in  this  place."  Rev. 
John  Lockyer  was  the  first  clergyman  who  was  secured  to  establish  a 
church  and  erect  a  house  for  worship,  both  of  which  he  did  during  the 
brief  period  of  his  rectorate,  three  or  four  years.  The  first  meeting  house 
stood  on  the  lot  of  the  present  Trinity  and  was  called  "handsome." 

Rev.  Dr.  Daniel  Goodwin,  in  his  historical  review  of  the  Episcopal 
church  in  Rhode  Island  ascribes  the  honor  of  founding  "old  Trinity," 
Newport,  to  the  Rev.  James  Honeyman,  the  first  missionary  to  the  Rhode 
Island  Colony,  sent  out  by  the  "Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel 
in  Foreign  Parts,"  and  the  real  founder  of  the  Episcopal  church  in  the 
United  Colonies.  Mr.  Honeyman  began  his  remarkable  work  in  1704,  at 
Newport,  and  at  his  death,  in  1750,  fifteen  hundred  and  seventy-nine  per- 


RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES  607 

sons  had  been  baptized  in  Trinity  parish,  most  of  the  baptfsms  the  result 
of  his  labors.  The  rector  of  Trinity  was  popular  in  all  Newport  circles, 
as  well  as  a  devoted  churchman,  and  he  not  only  had  the  respect  and  love 
of  all  the  people,  but  he  won  to  his  church  membership,  members  from 
the  Quaker,  Baptist  and  Congregational  communions.  A  larger  church 
building  was  soon  needed  and  in  1725,  the  present  Trinity  Church  was 
built.  The  quaint  interior,  the  lofty  pul])it,  the  sounding  board,  the 
reading  and  clerk's  desk,  remain  to  illustrate  the  taste  and  styles  of  archi- 
tecture of  the  early  day.  The  bell  was  the  gift  of  Queen  Anne.  As  illus- 
trating his  hospitable  and  opportunist  spirit  it  is  related  of  Mr.  Money- 
man  that  a  messenger  from  Block  Island  brought  the  news  that  Bishop 
George  Berkeley  was  on  his  way  to  Newport.  It  was  a  holy  day  and  the 
rector  was  in  the  midst  of  the  church  services  when  the  letter  was  deliv- 
ered. After  reading  and  learning  its  contents,  he  read  it  to  his  congrega- 
tion, and  closing  the  services,  he  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  the  pro- 
cession to  march  to  the  wharf  to  welcome  the  Bishop  and  his  family. 
Mr.  Honeyman  allied  himself  with  educational  reforms  and  social  pro- 
gress and  was  with  Dean  Berkeley  and  other  eminent  men  at  Newport, 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  Newport  Literary  and  Philosophical  Society, 
one  of  the  first  in  our  country.  The  Episcopal  church  and  parish  won  a 
first  rank  in  the  country,  so  much  so.  that  Mr.  lIone>Tnan  wrote  to  the 
English  Society:  "Betwixt  New  York  and  Boston,  there  is  not  a  congre- 
gation in  the  way  of  the  Church  of  England,  that  can  pretend  to  compare 
with  mine  or  equal  it  in  any  respect." 

The  Malbones,  Wantons,  Cranstons,  Brentons,  Coddingtons,  Bulls, 
Ellerys,  Kays,  Vernons  and  other  historical  families  of  Newport  wor- 
shipped in  "Old  Trinity."  and  most  of  the  eminent  clergy  of  all  orders 
have  preached  from  its  pulpit,  led  by  Bishop  Berkeley.  Mr.  Honeyman 
died  in  1750.  Mr.  Honeyman's  successor  was  Rev.  James  Learning,  who 
later  was  chosen  as  Bishop  of  the  Episcopal  churches  of  Connecticut. 
The  Revolutionary  period  was  disastrous  to  the  fruitful  operation  of  the 
Episcopal  churches  of  Rhode  Island  and  especially  to  Trinity  parish  at 
Newport,  and  the  condition  of  all  at  the  close  of  that  war  was  pitiable. 
Trinity  was  for  years  without  a  rector,  the  church  property  dilapidated, 
the  people  without  heart  or  hope,  party  strife  in  the  parish  and  the  edifice 
occupied  by  the  Six  Principle  Baptists.  The  Episcopal  church  at  Narra- 
gansett  was  used  as  barracks  for  the  American  soldiers  and  for  twelve 
years  was  unused  for  worship. 

St.  Michael's,  Bristol,  was  in  ashes.  King's  (St.  John's)  Church, 
Providence,  had  dismissed  a  disloyal  rector.  Rev.  John  Graves,  because 
he  insisted  on  ofTering  prayers  for  King  George  III.     Dr.  Goodwin  re- 


6o8  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

marks :    "To   the    human    eye,   the    Episcopal    church    in    Rhode    Island 
seemed  ready  to  die." 

St.  Paul's  at  Narragansett  was  in  point  of  time  the  second  Church 
of  England  established  in  Rhode  Island.  The  Smiths  at  Wickford  were 
churchmen  and  Rev.  William  Blackstone  had  held  monthly  preaching 
services  at  the  Smith  garrison  house,  until  his  death  in  1675.  The  Updike 
and  Gardner  families  were  also  among  the  pioneers  of  the  church  move- 
ment. In  1702,  the  English  Church  Missionary  Society  declared  that  a 
missionary  should  be  sent  at  once  to  the  Narragansett  Country,  but  it 
was  in  1706,  that  Rev.  Christopher  Bridge,  an  assistant  at  King's  Chapel, 
Boston,  came  to  Narragansett,  and  by  him  St.  Paul's  Church  was  built  in 
Kingstown,  afterwards  removed  to  the  village  of  Wickford,  in  1800,  and 
in  its  thoroughly  renovated  form,  church  services  are  now  regularly  held. 
In  1/21  the  new  church  enterprise  came  under  the  rectorship  of  Rev. 
James  McSparran,  who,  in  1718,  had  been  refused  ordination  as  minister 
of  the  Congregational  church  at  Bristol,  Rhode  Island.  Dr.  Goodwin 
says,  "He  proved  a  devoted  and  well-learned  parish  priest,  beloved,  re 
spected  and  honored,  dwelling  among  his  flock  for  thirty-six  years,  until 
he  was  called  hence  after  what  he  styled  'labors  and  toils  inexpressible.' ' 
At  one  time  his  parish  included  Bristol,  Swansea,  Freetown  and  Littlt 
Compton.  In  his  book  (1753),  "America  Dissected,"  he  dissects  Rhode 
Island  secular  and  religious  concerns  with  the  calm  ferocity  of  an  ancient 
butcher-man  and  the  genial  wit  of  a  modern  Punch.  Taken  as  written, 
the  book  is  a  genial  historical  criticism  by  a  master  of  gentle  satire ;  "his 
bark  is  worse  than  his  bite."  A  touch  is  seen  in  "The  Rhode  Islanders 
are  the  only  people  on  earth  who  have  hit  on  the  art  of  enriching  them- 
selves by  running  in  debt,"  and  "The  Lord,  in  mercy  to  us,  should  dis- 
pose the  sovereign  power  to  vacate  our  patent  and  prevent  our  own 
destruction  by  taking  us  out  of  our  own  hands." 

Dr.  MacSparran's  parish  included  the  Narragansett  Purchase,  twenty 
miles  broad  and  twenty-five  miles  long.  He  often  officiated  at  Conanicut, 
Westerly,  and  Old  Warwick  in  the  Coweset  church,  the  old  Trinity  house 
of  worship  having  been  removed,  in  1726,  to  the  Warwick  shore.  The 
Episcopal  congregations  were  large  and  included  many  of  the  wealthy  and 
educated  land  aristocracy  of  southern  Rhode  Island.  Among  them  were 
Gabriel  Bernon,  formerly  of  Newport,  George  Balfour,  Col.  Daniel  Up- 
dike, Attorney  General  of  the  Colony,  Col.  Francis  Willett,  grandson  of 
Hon.  Thomas  Willett  of  Wannamoiset,  Dr.  Sylvester  Gardiner,  Moses 
Lippett  and  Judge  John  Cole.  The  painter,  Gilbert  Stuart,  was  born  in 
his  parish  and  baptized  by  him.  The  historian  says  of  the  people,  the 
Narragansett  planters,  of  his  parish:  "They  were  exceptionally  cultured, 
well-to-do,  hospitable  to  a  proverb,  proud  of  their  pastor,  loyal  to  the 


RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES  609 

church  and  secure  in  the  conviction  tliat  to  be  a  Sarragansett  Planter, 
with  large  estates  and  troops  of  slaves,  was  a  sufficient  patent  of  aris- 
tocracy." Of  the  rector  he  states:  "Over  those  within  this  tract  (Narra- 
gansett),  acknowledging  the  authority  of  the  Church  of  England — that 
is  the  majorit}'  of  the  people  of  substance  and  standing. — Dr.  MacSparran 
ruled  with  a  firm  if  gentle  liand,  striving  with  faithful  zeal  and  large 
ability,  to  gather  the  whole  body  of  the  sheep  into  the  safe  fold." 

Rev.  Samuel  Fayerweather,  a  staunch  loyalist,  succeeded  to  the  rec- 
torship in  1760,  was  suspended  as  a  Tory  in  1774,  dying  in  1781.  The 
bodies  of  both  rectors  were  buried  under  the  communion  table  of  St. 
Paul's,  where  a  granite  cross  now  marks  their  graves. 

St.  Michael's  Church,  Bristol,  was  the  third  Episcopal  parish  created 
in  the  State,  though  the  town  was  then  a  part  of  Massachusetts  Colony. 
Movements  prior  to  1720  led  the  Bishops  of  London  to  send  a  minister, 
Rev.  John  Orem  to  Bristol,  in  1721,  where  he  found  a  small  body  of 
churchmen  and  a  meeting  house  in  course  of  erection.  About  this  time, 
twelve  men  were  imprisoned  for  refusing  to  pay  toward  the  support 
of  the  Congregational  ministers  of  the  town. 

Mr.  Orem  was  followed,  in  1723,  by  Rev.  John  Usher,  a  graduate  of 
Harvard  College.  He  was  splendidly  qualified  for  pioneer  work  and  his 
tireless  labor  founded  a  vigorous  church  and  won  the  friendship  of  the 
Puritan  church  of  Bristol,  and  the  two  churches  became  self-supporting. 
After  a  ministry  of  fifty-two  years,  Mr.  Usher  closed  his  life  labors, 
April  30,  1775.  During  his  rectorship,  he  had  baptized  seven  hundred  and 
thirteen  persons,  attended  two  hundred  and  seventy-four  funerals  and 
married  one  hundred  and  eighty-five  cc)U])Ies.  In  1778,  the  church  edifice 
was  burned  by  the  British  and  the  parish  seemed  almost  extinguished. 
The  opening  years  of  the  nineteenth  century  witnessed  a  revival  of  Epis- 
copal interest  in  Rhode  Island,  recovering  from  the  disloyalty  of  priests 
and  people  durmg  the  Revolutionary  War.  In  1834,  during  the  ministry 
of  Rev.  John  Bristed  at  Bristol,  a  Gothic  church  of  wood  was  built,  and  an 
unusual  spiritual  awakening  occurred,  adding  one  hundred  to  the  mem- 
bership. The  Church's  edifice  was  burned  in  1838,  and  the  present  struc- 
ture of  brown  stone  was  erected.  Rev.  George  L.  Locke,  the  present 
rector,  has  fulfilled  faithful  ministerial  labors  at  St.  Michael's  for  more 
than  fifty  years.  The  parish  has  contributed  three  bishops  to  the  Amer- 
ican churches,  the  Rev.  James  DeWolf  Perry,  Jr.,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  Rhotle 
Island,  being  one. 

St.  John's  Church,  Providence,  was  the  last  of  the  four  Colonial  par- 
ishes of  Rhode  Island  and  was  founded  in  1722.  Rector  Honeyman,  who 
had  preached  at  Providence,  reported  to  the  English  Society  "the  want  of 
R  1-39 


6io  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

a  missionary  at  a  town  called  Providence,"  where,  through  want  of  in- 
struction, the  people  were  become  quite  rude  and  void  of  all  knowledge 
in  religion,  yet  they  were  of  a  good  and  teachable  disposition."  Still 
more,  Mr.  Honeyman  reported  that  he  had  preached  in  Providence,  "to 
the  greatest  number  of  people  he  had  ever  had  together  since  he  came 
to  America ;  no  house  being  able  to  hold  them,  he  was  obliged  to  preach 
in  the  fields."  Gabriel  Bernon,  whom  we  have  met  at  Newport  and  at 
Narragansett,  had  at  this  time  taken  up  his  residence  in  Providence,  and 
in  it  was  a  most  devoted  churchman  and  who  asked  for  "our  town  of 
Providence  one  learned  minister  of  good  condition — an  Old  England 
gentleman  minister."  The  people,  led  by  Mr.  Bernon  raised  £770  and 
on  St.  Barnabas  Day,  June  11,  1722,  began  to  build  a  small  edifice,  with 
low  belfry  and  round-headed  windows,  which  stood  for  eighty-eight 
years,  until  the  erection  of  the  fine  stone  structure,  on  the  site  of  the  old, 
in  1800.  Rev.  George  Pigot,  a  former  schoolmaster  at  Newport,  came  to 
Providence  as  rector  of  King's  (St.  John's)  Church,  in  1723,  remaining 
here  four  years.  Rev.  John  Checkley,  born  in  Boston,  1680,  was  one  of 
the  most  distinguished  rectors  of  this  church  from  1739  to  1754.  He  was 
an  expert  scholar  of  the  Indian  language  and  a  noted  controversialist. 
President  William  Allen  called  him  "a  wit,  a  classical  scholar,  skilful  also 
in  Hebrew  and  in  Narragansett  Indian.  *  *  *  More  remarkable  for 
eccentricities  of  his  temper  and  conduct  than  for  piety  and  learning," 
while  Mr.  Updike  says  of  him,  "Peace  to  thine  ashes,  untiring  servant 
of  Christ  and  the  Church.  The  faith  which  sustained  thee  teaches  us 
that  ample  amends  will  soon  be  made  for  all  earth's  forget  fulness." 

Rev.  Nathan  B.  Crocker,  D.  D.,  in  the  service  of  St.  John's  Church 
from  1802,  till  his  death  in  1865,  was  one  of  the  .most  noted  divines  of 
New  England  and  at  the  date  of  his  death  the  oldest  presbyter  in  the 
United  States.  His  long  and  valued  years  of  labor  at  St.  John's  in  the 
city  and  State  at  large  and  as  a  fellow  and  secretary  of  the  Corporation 
of  Brown  University  from  1808  to  1865,  entitled  him  to  the  first  place  in 
the  Rhode  Island  clergy  of  all  denominations. 

St.  Paul's  at  Pawtucket  was  organized  through  the  agency  of  Sam- 
uel Slater,  Samuel  Greene  and  David  and  Edward  L.  Wilkinson.  In 
1816,  Rev.  John  L.  Blake  was  rector  and  there  were  twenty  communicants. 
In  1822,  Rev.  Dr.  George  Taft  became  rector  and  by  efficient  service 
built  up  a  strong  church. 

At  Tower  Hill,  a  church  was  organized  under  Lemuel  Burge  as 
rector,  but  was  in  1840  merged  in  that  at  Wakefield, — the  Church  of  the 
Ascension. 

For  a  half  century,  following  the  American  Revolution,  the  Episcopal 
churches  in  Rhode  Island  carried  on  a  sharp  struggle  for  existence.    For 


RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES  6ii 

a  period  of  one  Hundred  and  seven  years  from  1722  to  1829,  only  one 
parish  now  living  was  established.  In  1S29,  St.  Michael's,  Bristol,  had 
162  members;  St.  John's,  Providence,  160;  Trinity,  Newport,  123;  St. 
Paul's,  Pawtucket,  75,  and  St.  Paul's,  VVickford,  43, — a  total  of  563. 

Grace  Church,  Providence,  the  largest  and  most  influential  parish  in 
the  Rhode  Island  Diocese,  dates  from  1829.  Its  first  rector  was  Rev. 
Samuel  Fuller,  Jr.,  with  42  communicants.  Rev.  John  A.  Clark,  the 
founder  of  prosperity,  both  temporal  and  spiritual,  added  200  before  his 
retirement  in  1835.  Mr.  Clark's  ministry  was  an  event  of  memorable 
value  to  the  parish.  He  was  followed  by  Rev.  Alexander  H.  Vinton,  a 
man  of  deep  piety  and  fervid  speech,  and  he  by  Bishop  Ilenshaw,  who 
ministered  with  great  ability  in  all  departments  of  church  work.  Mr. 
Henshaw  was  succeeded  by  Bishop  Thomas  M.  Qark,  who  elevated  the 
church  to  a  very  high  place  in  city  and  State  and  raised  the  membership 
from  330  to  480.  Dr.  Clark  was  made  Bishop  in  1867,  and  thenceforward 
to  the  end  of  a  long  and  noble  life  devoted  himself  to  the  larger  field  of 
the  Diocese.  Bishop  Clark  won  the  high  regard  of  all  other  denomina- 
tions, as  well  as  his  own,  by  a  gracious  spirit  and  a  generous  and  hospi- 
table love  for  service  in  all  departments  of  work. 

St.  Mark's  Church,  Warren,  was  founded  in  1829,  Rev.  George  W. 
Hathaway  being  the  first  rector  from  i82()  to  1851,  when  there  were  140 
communicants. 

In  the  Convention  of  1832,  three  new  parishes  were  added, — St. 
Paul's,  South  Kingstown,  Trinity  Church,  Pawtucket,  and  St.  James, 
Smithfield  (now  Woonsocket).  The  first  rector  of  St.  James  was  Rev. 
Joseph  M.  Brown,  who  was  followed  by  Rev.  Henry  Waterman.  This 
church  has  now  over  500  members. 

St.  Luke's,  East  Greenwich,  dates  from  1833.  Rev.  Silas  A.  Crane 
was  the  rector  from  1841  to  1872,  giving  to  the  people  a  high  spiritual 
order  of  service. 

Christ  Church,  Lonsdale,  was  founded  in  1833,  by  Rev.  James  W. 
Cooke.    This  parish  is  now  one  of  the  most  important  in  the  Diocese. 

Christ  Church,  Westerly,  was  organized  in  1834.  This  parish  occu- 
pies a  prominent  position  in  the  religious  life  of  that  part  of  Rhode 
Island  and  from  1844  to  1858  was  under  the  able  rectorate  of  Rev.  Thomas 
H.  Vail,  the  first  Bishop  of  Kansas. 

St.  Stephen's,  Providence,  came  into  being  in  1839,  under  Rev. 
Francis  Vinton,  brother  of  the  rector  of  Grace  Church.  His  successor 
was  Rev.  Hem-y  Waterman,  rector  from  1841  to  1874,  except  five  years  of 
absence.  During  Mr.  Waterman's  service  the  spacious  stone  church  on 
George  street  was  built. 

All  Saints'  Memorial,  Providence,  was  started  in  1847,  and  achieved 


6i2  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

its  prominence  through  the  rectorship  of  Rev.  Daniel  Henshaw.  This 
parish  was  the  first  to  introduce  the  boy  choir,  in  1858.  The  Gothic 
Church  edifice,  corner  of  High  and  Stewart  streets,  is  a  monument  to 
the  men  and  women  who  have  led  consecrated  lives  in  this  parish. 

The  Church  of  the  Messiah  and  the  Church  of  the  Redeemer,  are 
the  latest  of  the  Providence  Episcopal  parishes,  the  former  was  founded 
by  the  self-sacrificing  labors  of  the  Rev.  Benjamin  B.  Babbitt  and  con- 
tinued by  the  remarkable  work  among  the  poor  by  Rev.  Thomas  H. 
Cocroft.  The  latter,  organized  in  1859,  under  the  rectorship  of  Rev. 
Charles  H.  Wheeler,  is  distinguished  as  the  first  free  Episcopal  church 
in  Providence. 

The  chapter  of  New  England  history  which  deals  with  the  intro- 
duction of  the  Church  of  England  into  the  religious  life  of  the  people  of 
Puritan  faith  is  both  interesting  and  instructive.  Plymouth  Colony  had 
been  founded  sixty  years  and  Massachusetts  Bay  fifty  years  before  the 
introduction  of  the  English  mother  church  was  urged,  in  the  first  instance 
by  ofiicers  of  the  Crown.  The  Puritan  idea  was  to  make  a  State  Church 
of  freemen.  The  Court  idea  of  Charles  II  was  to  reduce  the  Puritan 
power  and  give  the  English  church  the  position  it  held  in  the  home-land. 
When  in  1686.  Sir  Edmund  Andros  demanded  the  opening  of  Puritan 
meeting  houses  for  Church  of  England  worship  and  worshippers,  he  was 
refused  by  the  Puritan  clergy  on  the  ground  that  they  could  not  "with  a 
good  conscience  consent  yt  our  Meeting  House  should  be  made  use  of  for 
common  prayer  worship."  In  the  debate  that  followed,  soft  words  were 
not  used  by  either  side  and  a  deadly  strife  was  on  between  the  two  oppos- 
ing forces.  In  time  both  won,  for,  in  1689,  King's  Chapel  was  opened 
at  Boston,  and  already  at  Newport  and  at  New  York,  Episcopal  laymen 
began  to  discuss  the  founding  of  parishes  at  these  two  centers,  but  this 
did  not  happen  until  the  advent  of  the  third  generation  of  Puritan  found- 
ers, who  had  come  to  recognize  the  doctrine  of  conscience  liberty  to 
Baptists,  Quakers,  and  now  to  the  ecclesiasticism  which  they  had  left 
behind  them  in  England. 

But  the  advent  of  a  few  devout  Churchmen  in  our  Rhode  Island 
Colony  which  from  the  first  opened  wide  doors  to  all  religious  believers, 
was  not  a  matter  of  great  significance,  until  re-enforced  by  the  "Society 
for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts."  This  society 
planted  and  nourished  the  pioneer  Episcopal  churches  of  our  own  and 
neighbor  Colonies.  Thirteen  missionaries  were  sent  to  the  four  Rhode 
Island  parishes  during  the  Colonial  period  and  their  support  assured. 
St.  John's,  Providence,  received  about  $20,000  and  $100,000  were  con- 


RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES  613 

tribiited  to  carry  on  the  church  work.     Without  its  aid,  there  is  great 
doubt  of  the  continued  Hfe  of  the  parishes  established. 

The  Anghcan  church,  in  its  New  England  genesis,  was  made  up  of 
the  immediate  immigration  of  middle  class  families,  who  found,  at  the 
close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  a  state  of  society  and  of  religious  liberty 
more  in  accord  with  their  desires  than  the  conditions  they  left  in  Eng- 
land. All  belonged  to  the  liberal  or  Low  Church  party,  except  the  Crown 
officers,  who  assumed  a  characteristic  lordship  over  the  various  worship- 
ping assemblies.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  southern  Rhode  Island,  in  its 
larger  freedom  of  worship,  its  intellectual  supremacy,  and  its  financial 
ability,  invited  and  welcomed  Quakers,  Baptists,  Jews  and  Churchmen, 
especially  at  Newport  and  Narragansett. 

The  Revolutionary  War  was  a  severe  test  of  the  loyalty  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Anglican  church  in  Rhode  Island.  A  double  tie  bound  them 
to  England, — the  Anglican  church  and  the  English  Civil  State, — to  both 
of  which  the  Episcopal  church  had  sworn  allegiance.  It  is  not  strange 
that  the  clergy  and  a  large  portion  of  the  laity  should  have  won  the  title 
of  Tories,  in  a  rebellion,  the  issue  of  which  seemed  to  patriotic  English 
people  most  uncertain,  probably  fruitless,  except  in  sacrifice  to  a  lost 
cause.  An  Episcopate  in  Church  and  a  Monarchy  in  State  were  congenial 
companions  for  an  ideal  state.  Democracy,  so  far  as  realized,  was  the 
vision  and  half-reality  of  the  few,  but  not  the  real  possession  of  the 
many.  Independency  had  launched  its  bark  on  this  uncertain  sea  of  free- 
dom a  century  and  a  half  agone,  but  Dependency  preferred  the  safe  har- 
borage of  its  homeland  coast.  Rhode  Island  Episcopacy  found  its  spir- 
itual wreckage  in  the  inactivity  and  disloyalty  of  its  harbored  protection. 

The  revival  of  Episcopacy  in  Rhode  Island  followed  the  full  estab- 
lishment of  Federalism  and  the  passing  from  the  stage  of  the  Revolu- 
tionary generation.  The  religious  revivals  of  the  early  years  of  the 
nineteenth  century  united  the  people  by  new  spiritual  ties,  while  the  birth 
of  the  free  public  school  in  Rhode  Island,  and  the  educational  awakening 
in  all  the  young  States  gave  Democracy  a  new  and  more  progressive  life. 
At  this  time  we  find  the  Episcopal  church  of  Rhode  Island  awakened  to 
a  higher  sense  of  its  true  meaning  and  its  spiritual  opportunity.  Its 
leaders  were  all  American  born,  inspired  by  the  new  spirit  of  liberty,  and 
in  no  way  dependent  on  a  foreign  hierachy.  It  cannot  be  said  that  the 
independent  denominations  heartily  welcomed  the  uprising  of  the  Epis- 
copal spirit  and  services,  even  so  late  as  a  century  ago.  Prejudice,  sus- 
picion, hatred  of  things  of  English  birth  and  bearing  English  names,  as 
the  Anglican  Church,  were  met  in  the  spirit  of  missionary  martyrdom  and 
at  the  entry  of  the  era  of  the  American  Civil  War,  Jew  and  Gentile, 
Catholic   and    Protestant,   Dissenter   and   Churchman,    in    Rhode    Island, 


6i4  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

knelt  at  one  altar,  joined  hands  in  Christian  brotherhood,  "forgetting  the 
things  that  were  behind." 

The  following  official  statements  show  the  status  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  church  of  Rhode  Island,  on  May  i,  1917:  Parishes  and  mis- 
sions, 80;  one  bishop;  90  clergy-;  6  deaconesses;  49  lay  readers;  20,185 
communicants;  1167  teachers  and  9797  pupils  in  Sunday  schools;  1178 
persons  baptized;  910  confirmed;  591  marriages;  1087  burials;  contri- 
butions for  all  purposes,  $365,352. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

This  vigorous,  constructive  and  progressive  body  of  Christians  came 
into  active  denominational  work  in  New  England  and  Rhode  Island  in 
1789,  when  Jesse  Lee,  an  itinerant  preacher,  bom  in  Virginia  in  1758, 
came  to  pioneer  a  lively  campaign  in  the  E^st  and  to  set  up  the  banners 
of  a  living  gospel  of  faith  and  work.  On  Thursday,  the  3rd  of  September, 
1789,  this  fiery  zealot  arrived  in  Charlestown,  Rhode  Island,  and  preached 
the  first  Methodist  sermon  ever  delivered  in  the  State.  It  is  said  that  both 
John  and  Charles  Wesley,  the  founders  of  the  sect,  preached  in  Newport. 
Mr.  Lee  spent  six  years  in  New  England  and  preached  in  all  the  large 
towns  of  our  State.  At  the  end  of  two  years,  fifteen  Methodist  churches 
had  been  organized. 

The  Methodist  church  in  Bristol  was  the  first  of  the  order  in  this 
State  and  the  second  in  New  England,  the  church  at  Lynn  claiming 
priority.  When  Rev.  Jesse  Lee  was  on  his  way  to  Boston  from  Newport 
in  1790,  he  passed  through  Bristol,  where  he  was  held  up  on  his  journey 
by  one  Captain  Daniel  Gladding,  who  urged  his  stopping  at  Bristol  to 
preach.  In  1791  Mr.  Lee  came  again  to  Bristol,  formed  a  class  of  sixteen 
and  organized  a  church  of  eighteen  members.  In  1805  a  plain  meeting 
house  was  built  on  the  Commons,  which  was  used  until  1856,  when  the 
present  large  and  beautiful  house  of  worship  was  dedicated.  In  1880  this 
church  had  327  members,  and  is  still  one  of  the  most  active  and  efficient 
churches  of  the  Methodist  order  in  Rhode  Island.  The  revival  of  1800 
added  one  hundred  members,  and  that  of  1820  more  than  two  hundred. 

Tlie  church  in  Warren  was  formed  under  the  inspiration  of  Rev. 
Mr.  Lee,  at  about  the  same  time  as  that  of  Bristol.  In  1794  Jesse  Lee 
aided  in  the  dedication  of  the  first  Methodist  meeting  house  in  the  State, 
at  Warren,  and  the  third  in  New  England.  In  1800  this  church  had  123 
members.  It  has  a  large  house  of  worship,  but  the  audiences  are  now 
much  reduced  owing  to  a  great  change  in  the  population  of  Warren. 

East  Greenwich  has  the  honor  of  the  third  Methodist  church  in  the 
State,  dating  from  1797.  In  1831  the  church  built  its  first  house  of  wor- 
ship, having  used  the  county  court  house  up  to  that  date.    The  East  Green- 


RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES  615 

wich  Conference  Seminar)-  has  furnished  an  audience  and  lay  and  clerical 
talent  in  the  work  of  the  church. 

Rev.  Mr.  Lee's  efficient  and  thorough  work  prior  to  1800  appears  in 
churches  organized  at  Portsmouth,  Phenix,  Wickford,  Newport,  Provi- 
dence and  Arnold's  Mills,  the  result  of  the  first  preachers  and  preach- 
ing in  the  State,  resulting  in  ten  churches  before  1800,  with  a  membership 
of  several  hundred  earnest  men  and  women.  Chestnut  Street  Methodist 
Church,  Providence,  the  first  in  this  town,  has  been  one  of  the  strong 
centres  of  work  and  influence,  and  the  mother  of  many  other  churches. 

Among  the  founders  and  early  workers  may  be  named  Jesse  Lee, 
Joshua  Hall,  Reuben  Hubbard,  Van  R.  Osborn,  Lemuel  Smith,  Bishop 
Asbury,  Lorenzo  Dow,  General  Cliristopher  Lippitt,  John  Chalmers, 
Zadok  Priest.  William  Cone,  Bishop  Coke,  Isaac  Bonney,  Joseph  Snelling, 
Asa  Kent.  Wherever  these  apostles  of  a  new  and  lively  gospel  preached, 
revivals  followed,  converts  were  made,  and  churches  established.  Not 
only  did  these  preachers  win  souls  to  a  new  and  high  consecration  in  spirit 
and  work,  but  they  also  awakened  other  denominations  of  Christians  to 
more  active  services.  Their  call  was  a  mighty  clarion  to  a  new  consecra- 
tion to  Christ,  on  the  part  of  all  men,  everywhere,  and  the  call  was  heeded 
and  a  wonderful  response  followed. 

The  Little  Compton  Methodist  Church  dates  from  1820,  when  Mr. 
Lemuel  Sisson  and  family  became  the  nucleus  about  which  the  church  was 
shaped. 

Pawtucket  First  Church  dates  from  1822,  its  first  minister  being  Rev. 
O.  Robbins. 

The  Hope  Street  Oiurch,  Providence,  was  organized  in  1834,  first 
known  as  Power  Street  Methodist  Episcopal  Chiirch. 

The  W'oonsocket  Church  began  to  have  regular  preachers  the  same 
year. 

Grace  Church.  Westerly,  dates  its  first  leadings  to  the  preaching  of 
Jesse  Lee  in  1789,  but  it  was  not  organized  until  1847. 

The  Mathewson  Street  Church,  Providence,  was  constituted  of  mem- 
bers from  Chestnut  and  Power  Street  churches,  and  had  for  its  first 
preacher  in  1848  Rev.  Robert  Allyn,  principal  of  the  Conference  Semi- 
nary. Its  central  location,  the  activity  of  its  membership  and  the  extraor- 
dinary ability  of  its  preachers  have  made  it  one  of  the  two  leading  Metho- 
dist churches  in  the  State. 

The  Trinity  Union  Methodist,  Providence,  was  organized  in  1859, 
through  the  able  preaching  of  Rev.  Dr.  McKeown,  with  Rev.  William  Mc- 
Donald as  first  pastor.  In  181)8  the  Chestnut  Street  Church  united  with 
Trinity,  on  Trinity  Square.  This  church  is  now  very  prosperous,  has  a 
well  appointed  church  building,  with  all  modern  equipments  for  Sunday 


6i6  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

school  and  church  activities,  and,  with  the  Mathewson  Street,  is  a  leader 
of  the  State  churches  of  that  order. 

There  are  six  African  Methodist  churches  in  the  State,  with  two  at 
Providence  and  one  at  Newport.  The  total  membership  exceeds  six  hun- 
dred, with  Sunday  schools  and  other  modem  church  activities. 

The  Methodist  church  in  Rhode  Island  is  active  in  home  and  foreign 
work,  in  temperance,  in  all  moral  reforms,  in  all  social  and  civil  progress, 
always  strenuously  advocating  human  rights  as  the  birthright  of  Sons  of 
God.  Women  are  recognized  as  co-workers  on  all  plans  of  human  activity. 

Other  Denominations. 

There  are  three  Unitarian  churches  in  the  State.  The  First  Congre- 
gational, Providence,  Rev.  A.  M.  Lord,  D.  D.,  pastor,  was  formed  in  1723- 
24  by  the  Congregational  people  of  the  town,  who  built  a  meeting  house 
at  the  corner  of  Benefit  and  College  streets  in  1724.  In  the  early  years  of 
the  nineteenth  century  the  major  part  of  the  church  adopted  the  Uni- 
tarian faith. 

The  Westminster  Unitarian  Church,  on  the  West  Side,  ministers  to 
a  large  and  intelligent  congregation. 

The  Newport  Unitarian  Church  is  a  charming  memorial  to  Rev.  Wil- 
liam Ellery  Channing,  the  founder  of  Unitarianism,  who  was  born  in 
Newport. 

The  LTniversalists  began  missionary  work  in  the  State  about  1820,  in 
the  preaching  of  Hosea  Ballou  and  others.  In  1821  a  society  was  formed, 
and  a  chapel  for  worship  was  built  on  the  corner  of  Westminster  and 
Union  streets.  The  chapel  was  burned  in  1825,  and  a  handsome  meeting 
house  was  built  on  land  now  occupied  by  the  "Boston  Store."  Rev.  David 
Pickering  was  the  first  pastor.  In  1872  the  church  built  a  new  and  finer 
house  of  worship  on  Greene,  at  a  cost  of  $130,000.  Among  its  ministers 
have  been  Rev.  E.  H.  Capan,  D.  D.,  later  president  of  Tufts  College,  and 
Rev.  H.  I.  Cushman,  D.  D. 

The  second  Universalist  Church  in  the  State  was  organized  in  Paw- 
tucket,  in  1827.  The  third  was  founded  at  Woonsocket  prior  to  1840,  and 
is  now  the  largest  and  most  prosperous  in  the  State.  The  fourth  was  the 
present  Church  of  the  Mediator  on  Cranston  street,  the  house  of  worship 
being  erected  in  1869.  The  church  celebrated  its  fiftieth  anniversary  in 
1899. 

The  chief  educational  institutions  of  this  church  are  Dean  Academy 
at  Franklin,  Massachusetts,  and  Tufts  College,  near  Boston.  Both  are 
well-endowed  and  flourishing  schools  of  learning. 

Among  the  pastors  and  preachers  of  eminence,  other  than  those 
before  named,  were  Rev.  Henry  W.  Rugg,  W.  C.  Selleck,  James  S.  Cook, 


ST.   PETER'S  AND   ST.   PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL 
Cathedral    Square 


RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES  617 

Giarles  J.  White,  Massena  Goodrich,  E.  L.  Houghton,  Stephen  Cutler, 
J.  N.  Parker,  John  Murray  and  Thomas  Whittcmore. 

The  great  work  of  the  Universahst  denomination  has  been  to  Hb- 
erahze  all  other  existing  faiths.  While  the  first  advocates  were  treated 
with  great  severity  by  the  orthodox  faiths,  a  gradual  but  fundamental 
change  has  taken  place  in  beliefs  and  preaching.  To  such  an  extent  has 
this  evolution  of  a  new  faith  proceeded  that  the  preaching,  teaching  and 
practice  of  all  the  leading  churches  of  America  are  mainly  in  full  har- 
mony with  those  of  the  denomination  that  was  so  vigorously  attacked  in 
its  early  history — a  century  ago.  The  Universalists  have  extinguished  the 
fires  of  a  literal  hell  and  have  lit  the  lamj)  of  hope  in  millions  of  human 
souls. 

The  Presbyterian  church  of  Rhode  Island  holds  fast  to  the  leading 
articles  of  the  Scotch  faith  and  worship — the  two  branches  dividing  on 
non-essentials,  which  are  in  process  of  speedy  dissolution.  There  are  eleven 
organized  churches  in  the  State,  with  a  membershij).  expurgated,  of  about 
two  thousand,  with  an  equal  Sunday  school  enrolment.  The  local  churches 
are  well  administered  and  the  Bible  is  still  the  text-book  of  faith  and 
practice.     Local  and  foreign  missionary  work  is  well  sustained. 

The  Quakers,  or  Friends,  have  been  treated  in  another  chapter.  Sab- 
bath services  are  held  at  Providence,  Slatersville,  Newport  and  other 
towns. 

The  disciples  of  Swedenborg  meet  for  converse  and  worship  at  Trin- 
ity Square,  Providence. 

The  Christadelphians  hold  two  Sabbath  services  in  Providence. 

The  Church  of  Latter  Day  Saints  holds  a  session  at  Palestine  Hall 
every  Sunday. 

The  German  Lutherans  have  a  church  in  the  city. 

The  Pentecostal  Xazarene  Church  has  three  congregations  of  wor- 
shippers in  Providence  each  Sunday. 

The  Roman  Catholic  Church. 

There  is  probably  no  section  of  the  United  States  in  which  the  Catho- 
lic church  made  greater  progress  during  the  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century  than  in  the  State  of  Rhode  Island.  P'rom  the  day  when  the  Rt. 
Rev.  William  Tyler  took  up  his  residence  in  Providence  on  March  17, 
1844,  up  to  the  present  time,  this  church  has  shown  a  constant  growth  and 
a  continuous  strengthening  and  multiplying  of  her  religious,  educational 
and  charitable  institutions.  The  first  organized  Catholic  parishes  were 
composed  principally  of  the  Irish  immigrants  who  came  here  in  great 
numbers  in  the  decade  of  years  after  1848.  There  were  poor  in  this 
world's  goods,  but  strong  in  their  faith  and  devoted  to  their  religion. 
They  were  a  valuable  asset  in  developing  the  resources  of  the  community. 


6i8  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

and  by  their  willingness  to  perform  faithfully  whatever  tasks  came  to 
hand  they  made  their  way  and  soon  became  an  influential  and  respected 
element  in  the  population.  The  most  hopeful  among  them  could  not 
imagine  the  extent  to  which  their  church  would  have  grown  in  the  space 
of  two  and  one-half  generations.  Within  three-quarters  of  a  century  the 
Catholic  church,  from  being  tolerated  faith,  has  become  a  dominant  influ- 
ence for  good  in  every  department  of  Rhode  Island's  activities.  The 
members  of  this  church  have  overspread  every  section  of  the  State,  have 
won  their  way  fairly  and  decisively  to  positions  of  honor,  trust  and  respon- 
sibility in  professional  and  business  careers,  and  have  proved  to  demon- 
stration that  their  creed  is  no  bar  to  progress,  but  is  rather  one  of  the  most 
potent  forces  for  the  welfare  of  the  State  as  well  as  for  the  individual. 
There  is  now  hardly  any  part  of  this  commonwealth  in  which  a  compact 
Catholic  parish  has  not  been  erected  and  it  is  taken  as  the  order  of  the 
day  that  the  church  should  be,  and  is  among  the  most  notable  structures 
in  whatever  city  or  town  it  raises  its  spires  towards  heaven. 

The  legendary  history  of  the  Catholic  church  in  this  State  goes  back 
to  the  time  when  Rhode  Island  was  known  as  Vineland,  and  when  the 
Norsemen  were  supposed  to  have  paid  their  visits  to  the  present  site  of 
Newport  in  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries.  Evidence,  however,  is 
lacking  to  show  conclusively  that  this  section  was  a  part  of  the  diocese  of 
Gardar  in  Greenland,  and  the  assertion  sometimes  made  that  the  old  Stone 
Mill  at  Newport  might  have  been  a  baptistry  is  nothing  more  than  an  un- 
founded conjecture.  The  first  historical  knowledge  of  the  presence  of 
Catholics  here  was  during  the  Revolutionary  War,  when  French  troops 
came  to  Newport  in  1778.  The  State  House  there  was  used  as  a  chapel, 
and  Mass  was  celebrated  by  the  chaplains  who  accompanied  Count 
D'Estaing  and  his  forces  to  the  then  American  Colonies.  As  early  as  181 1 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Matignon,  an  exile  French  missionary,  and  the  Rt.  Rev.  John 
De  Cheverus,  the  first  Bishop  of  Boston,  made  periodic  visits  to  Bristol 
and  Newport  for  the  purpose  of  celebrating  Mass,  instructing  the  people 
and  administering  Sacraments.  After  1813  Providence  was  included  in 
the  itinerary  of  priests  from  Boston,  and  Mass  was  occasionally  cele- 
brated in  a  school  house  on  Sheldon  street,  and  more  frequently  in  private 
houses.  In  1827  the  Catholics  of  the  city  had  become  numerous  enough 
to  request  Bishop  Fenwick  of  Boston  to  send  them  a  priest,  and  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Woodley  was  appointed  the  first  pastor  of  Rhode  Island  and  Con- 
necticut, with  all  the  territory  of  these  two  States  assigned  to  him  as  his 
particular  charge.  On  April  14,  1828,  Bishop  Fenwick  himself  celebrated 
Mass  in  Mechanics'  Hall,  for  a  congregation  of  500,  preached  a  sermon, 
and  administered  the  Sacrament  of  Confirmation  to  a  class  of  five  persons. 
In  the  same  year  Fr.  Woodley  established  a  church  in  Newport,  at  a  school 
house  on  Barney  street,  which  claimed  the  distinction  of  being  the  first 


RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES  619 

Catholic  church  in  the  State,  though  the  first  structure  erected  by  the  ad- 
herents to  Catholicity  for  religious  service  was  in  Pawtucket  in  the  fol- 
lowing year. 

On  the  30th  of  August,  1828,  Bishop  Chevenis  received  from  David 
Wilkinson,  of  Pawtucket,  the  deed  of  a  donation  of  land  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  feet  square,  "for  the  benefit  of  the  Roman  Catholics  settled 
in  the  neighborhood,  and  to  have  a  church  erected  upon  it."  The  Bishop 
of  Boston  included  the  town  in  the  route  of  his  episcopal  visitations,  and 
on  June  6,  1823,  there  is  a  record  of  five  baptisms  administered  by  him  to 
children  in  Pawtucket.  In  1829  he  sent  Father  Woodley  to  the  place  with 
instructions  to  build  a  church.  The  church  was  completed  in  November 
of  the  same  year.  After  remaining  in  charge  for  the  next  two  years, 
Father  Woodley  withdrew  and  left  New  England  for  Georgetown  College 
in  the  District  of  Columbia. 

Pawtucket  was  then  visited  by  priests  from  Providence,  and  among 
these  were  Rev.  John  Corry  and  the  Rev.  Peter  Connolly.  The  latter 
took  up  his  residence  in  the  neighborhood  and  directed  the  parish  afifairs 
until  1834.  Rev.  Constantine  Lee,  who  lived  at  this  time  midway  between 
Providence  and  Pawtucket,  officiated  occasionally  in  St.  Mary's.  In  1836 
the  number  of  Catholics  appears  to  have  increased,  since  the  Bishop  gave 
Confirmation  to  forty-seven  on  the  occasion  of  one  of  his  visits.  Father 
Lee  had  received  from  him  a  rather  scattered  charge,  since  both  Newport 
and  Pawtucket  were  assigned  to  his  pastoral  care.  Tine  shepherd  of  these 
widely  separated  flocks  left  in  1839,  and  the  Rev.  James  O'Reilly  became 
his  successor  and  remained  until  1841.  St.  Mary's  then  fell  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Rev.  William  Fennelly,  the  first  pastor  of  St.  Patrick's 
in  this  city.  The  Rev.  Denis  Ryan  substituted  for  him  for  a  few  months, 
and  when  Father  Wiley  became  pastor  of  St.  Patrick's  in  1842,  the  Rev. 
William  Ivers  from  Halifax,  Nova  Scotia,  was  sent  to  look  after  the 
spiritual  welfare  of  the  congregations  in  Pawtucket  and  Woonsocket. 
After  a  space  of  two  years,  Father  Ivers  went  to  Ireland.  At  the  same 
time  Father  Fitton  was  assigned  to  the  whole  of  Rhode  Island  as  his 
parish  with  the  exception  of  the  city  of  Providence.  When  Bishop  Tyler 
came,  he  transferred  Father  Fitton  to  Newport  and  the  Rev.  Joseph  Mc- 
Namee  went  to  St.  Mar>'s,  where  he  remained  until  1853.  The  influx  of 
Irish  immigrants  gave  an  impetus  to  the  growth  of  Catholicity  in  the 
Blackstone  Valley,  and  when  Father  Delancy  came  an  addition  was  made 
to  the  church  and  a  congregation  numbering  2600  was  soon  gathered 
around  the  mother  church  of  all  that  section. 

That  there  were  Catholics  in  Providence  in  1789  is  shown  by  the 
followHng  from  the  Providence  Gazette  of  December  12,  of  that  year: 
"Tuesday  last,  being  the  Festival  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  the  Rev.  Abbe  de  la  Poterie,  French  Roman  Catho- 


620  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

lie  priest  and  Doctor  of  Divinity,  celebrated  the  holy  sacrifice  of  the  Mass 
in  this  town  at  the  request  of  several  Catholics  of  the  Roman  Communion ; 
and  addressed  to  the  Almighty  his  humble  prayers  for  the  constant  and 
permanent  prosperity  of  the  State  of  Rhode  Island."  This  paragraph 
was  also  printed  in  the  United  States  Chronicle,  issued  in  Providence,  the 
wording  being  the  same  in  both  papers. 

In  1832  a  lot  for  a  church  in  Providence  was  purchased  at  a  cost  of 
$1,500.  The  site  is  now  covered  by  the  central  aisle  and  sanctuary  of  the 
present  Cathedral.  The  purchase  was  made  in  Dutee  Green's  store,  on 
Christian  Hill,  by  William  Hye,  from  Isaac  Matthewson,  who,  when  he 
heard  the  purpose  for  which  the  lot  was  to  be  used,  offered  first  $100  and 
then  $500  bonus  for  a  return  deed.  The  offer  was  considered  carefully, 
for  the  people  were  poor,  but  was  finally  decided  by  Rev.  John  Corry,  who 
had  succeeded  Father  Woodley,  December  29,  1830,  and  who  declared 
the  lot  the  best  site  for  a  church  in  Providence,  a  judgment  since  amply 
justified.  Father  Woodley  retired  after  three  years'  service  here,  to  join 
the  Jesuits  at  Georgetown,  D.  C. 

The  cornerstone  of  the  first  church  in  Providence,  the  Cathedral  of 
SS.  Peter  and  Paul,  was  laid  in  July,  1836,  and  Mass  was  said  in  the 
church  for  the  first  time  by  Rev.  Father  Corry  on  the  second  Sunday  in 
Advent,  1837.  The  church  was  dedicated  November  4,  1838.  The  church 
was  built  with  difficulty,  against  the  opposition  of  many  Catholics,  and 
with  delays  from  lack  of  money.  It  was  80x44  feet,  of  stone  cemented 
over,  and  was  the  first  Catholic  stone  church  in  Southeastern  New  Eng- 
land. It  held  a  thousand  persons,  and  was  without  vestry  or  organ.  Even 
before  it  was  finished  there  was  call  for  a  division  of  the  parish,  resulting 
four  years  later  in  the  formation  of  St.  Patrick's,  the  second  parish  in 
Providence,  against  the  opposition  of  Rev.  Father  Corry.  St.  Patrick's 
Church  was  dedicated  July  3,  1842,  while  the  State  was  under  martial  law, 
in  the  Dorr  War. 

In  the  year  1841,  the  Catholics  in  the  "North  End"  of  Providence 
petitioned  Bishop  Fenwick  of  Boston  for  permission  to  have  a  parish  of 
their  own.  The  date  of  that  request  was  March  5,  1841,  and  the  Bishop 
gave  every  consideration  and  encouragement  to  the  project,  with  the 
promise  of  sending  a  priest  as  soon  as  a  site  had  been  secured,  and  the 
church  committee  was  formed  consisting  of  eleven  men  to  take  charge  of 
affairs.  They  wished  to  buy  a  site  on  Benefit  street,  but  the  price  was 
too  high,  and  having  found  a  fine  lot  on  "Fletcher  Hill,"  which  they  could 
procure  for  $2,000,  with  the  recommendation  of  Bishop  Fenwick,  they 
purchased  it. 

Father  Fennelly  was  appointed  to  take  charge  of  the  early  developv- 
ments,  and  until  the  church  was  built  Mass  was  said  in  Franklin  Hall  and 
Masonic  Hall  on  North  Main  street.    After  the  purchase  of  the  land  on 


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RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES  621 

"Jefferson  Plains"  from  David  Burt  and  Tliomas  Maguire,  the  work  of 
erecting  the  church  was  begun  at  once.  Bishop  Fenwick  laid  the  comer- 
stone  on  July  13,  1841,  and  was  assisted  in  this  service  by  Fathers  Fen- 
nelly,  Corry,  Byrne.  O' Flaherty  and  O'Reilly.  On  January  15  of  the  fol- 
lowing year,  the  first  pastor  was  appointed  in  the  person  of  the  Rev.  Wil- 
liam Wiley,  a  convert  of  the  faith.  Ordained  in  1827,  he  had  spent  the 
years  preceding  his  coming  to  Providence  in  Salem  and  in  Taunton,  and 
had  built  u]>  flourishing  parishes  in  both  of  these  cities.  During  his  time 
the  church  was  completed  and  was  ready  for  dedication  by  the  middle  of 
1842.  When  this  church  was  torn  down  in  1904  there  were  found  in  its 
cornerstone  many  interesting  relics  and  records  of  the  time  when  it  was 
in  the  process  of  construction.  Notable  among  these  was  a  letter  of 
Father  Wiley  to  the  editor  of  the  Journal  announcing  the  forthcoming 
dedication  of  the  edifice.     It  read  as  follows : 

Please  give  notice  in  your  paper  that  the  solemn  dedication  of  the 
new  Cathoilc  church,  recently  erected  in  the  north  part  of  this  city,  to  the 
service  of  Almighty  God,  will  take  place  on  Sunday  next.  The  Rt.  Rev. 
Dr.  Fenwick.  assisted  by  several  clerg>'men  from  Boston,  this  city,  and 
elsewhere,  will  officiate  on  the  occasion.  Suitable  discourses  will  be  deliv- 
ered, both  forenoon  and  afternoon,  and  the  choir  will  be  assisted  by  a 
select  number  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  from  Boston  and  other  places. 
The  debt  incurred  in  the  erection  and  comi)letion  of  the  house,  and  the 
limited  resources  of  the  congregation  worshipping  therein,  united  with  a 
view  to  good  order  and  the  proi:)er  accommodation  of  those  interested  in 
witnessing  the  ceremony,  render  recourse  necessary  to  the  method  of  issu- 
ing admission  tickets  to  the  dedication,  thus  to  aid  in  raising  a  fund  for 
the  liquidation  of  the  debt  of  the  church.  The  tickets  may  be  had  by  our 
brethren  of  other  denominations,  desirous  of  witnessing  the  ceremony,  of 
Messrs.  Ilorton  and  Graham,  No.  3  Arcade,  and  of  Dr.  Miller,  North 
Main  street,  near  the  church,  at  one  dollar  each,  which  sum  will  be  con- 
sidered as  a  contribution  to  the  common  cause  of  religion  and  morality, 
and  differing  only  as  to  the  usual  manner  of  raising  it.  The  service  on 
the  occasion  will  commence  at  10  oVlock  in  the  forenoon  and  3  in  the 
afternoon,  previous  to  which  tickets  may  be  obtained  also  at  the  door  of 
the  church. 

The  circumstances  of  the  time  induced  Father  Wiley  to  issue  in  con- 
nection with  the  foregoing  announcement  the  subjoined  explanation : 

The  undersigned,  apprehensive  lest  the  celebration  noted  above,  at 
this  critical  time,  seem  to  the  public  unreasonable,  while  the  community 
are  just  recovering  from  the  painful  state  of  excitement  into  which  they 
have  been  thrown  by  the  menace  of  a  civil  war,  deems  it  proper  to  state, 
in  justification,  if  needed,  that  arrangements  having  been  made  for  the 
ceremonv  when  the  melancholy  occurrences  of  the  past  few  days  were 
wholly  unforeseen,  it  could  not  be  postponed  to  another  day  without  great 
disappointment  to  many  persons  interested  on  the  occasion,  and  much 
inconvenience  to  the  church  and  congregation  attached,  of  which  he  is 
the  pastor.  W.  Wiley. 

June  25,  1842. 


622  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

The  ceremony  of  dedication  was  carried  out  by  Bishop  Fenwick  with 
Solemn  Pontifical  Mass.  The  Most  Rev.  John  Hughes,  of  New  York, 
preached  the  sermon  to  a  congregation  which  did  not  overflow  the  church 
because  of  the  Dorr  War,  which  had  placed  the  State  at  the  time  under 
martial  law. 

The  beginnings  of  Catholicity  in  the  northern  part  of  the  State  may 
be  said  to  date  from  the  foundation  of  St.  Charles'  parish  on  October  lo, 
1842,  and  land  was  purchased  for  a  church  "near  Social  Village  on  the 
Mendon  road  and  Daniels  street."  There  are  records  of  Catholics  in  the 
place  from  about  1820,  and  Mass  was  occasionally  celebrated  in  the  town 
for  at  least  twenty  years  before  a  church  was  built,  and  usually  by  Father 
Fitton  or  a  priest  from  St.  Mary's,  Pawtucket.  In  1844  a  church  was 
completed  with  Father  Fitton  as  pastor. 

Since  the  year  1844  the  history  of  Catholicity  in  Rhode  Island  is 
written  around  the  line  of  Bishops  who  have  made  Providence  their 
Episcopal  city. 

The  fifth  Provincial  Council  of  Baltimore  convened  in  May,  1843. 
At  that  time  Bishop  Fenwick  requested  the  division  of  his  extensive  dio- 
cese of  Boston,  and  the  Council  sent  the  petition  to  the  Holy  See.  The 
request  was  granted,  and  in  September,  1843,  Rhode  Island  and  Connecti- 
cut were  made  into  the  diocese  of  Hartford,  and  the  Rt.  Rev.  William 
Tyler  was  named  as  the  first  ordinary  of  the  See.  He  received  the  bulls 
notifying  him  of  his  election  on  February  13,  1844,  and  on  the  following 
St.  Patrick's  Day  he  was  consecrated  in  the  Cathedral  at  Baltimore,  by 
the  Rt.  Rev.  Benedict  Fenwick.  He  was  installed  in  his  Cathedral  of  the 
Holy  Trinity  in  Hartford  on  April  14,  1844. 

At  the  time  of  his  episcopal  appointment,  Bishop  Tyler  had  9997  souls 
under  his  jurisdiction,  of  whom  4817  were  in  Connecticut  and  5180  in 
Rhode  Island.  Each  State  was  possessed  of  three  priests  and  four 
churches.  Hartford  had  about  600  Catholics  in  a  population  of  13,000, 
while  in  Providence  there  were  at  least  2000  Catholics  out  of  the  total  of 
23,000.  Providence  had  two  churches  and  in  the  environs  of  the  city  the 
Catholics  were  no  more  numerous  than  in  the  towns  in  the  vicinity  of  Con- 
necticut's capital.  "In  consideration  of  these  things,"  wrote  Bishop  Tyler, 
"and  after  having  consulted  with  Dr.  Fenwick,  Bishop  of  Boston,  and 
others  upon  whose  judgment  I  could  rely,  I  resolved  to  make  my  residence 
in  Providence,  and  at  the  Council  of  the  Bishops  of  the  United  States,  to 
petition  Rome  to  remove  the  See  from  Hartford  to  Providence."  As  a  con- 
sequence he  took  up  his  residence  here  in  June,  1844,  and  chose  the  Church 
of  SS.  Peter  and  Paul,  of  which  the  Rev.  James  Fitton  was  pastor,  as  his 
cathedral.  This  the  prelate  described  at  the  time  as  follows:  "It  is  a 
stone  building  eighty  feet  long  by  forty  feet  wide.  It  is  very  unpleasantly 
situated  on  account  of  the  narrowness  of  the  land  on  each  side  of  it.  There 


RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES  623 

is  only  four  feet  on  one  side  and  two  on  the  other.  Thus  we  are  liable  to 
have  our  windows  darkened  by  buildings  that  may  at  any  time  be  put  up 
by  the  owners  of  the  land  near  the  church ;  and  the  buildings  that  now 
are  near  the  church  are  very  offensive,  being  stables  in  which  are  kept 
cows  and  horses.  We  desire  very  much  to  buy  these  grounds  that  we  may 
be  secure  of  enjoying  the  light  of  heaven  and  be  free  from  these 
nuisances." 

When  Bishop  Tyler  came  to  Providence,  he  began  at  once  the  arduous 
task  of  providing  churches  and  priests  for  his  little  flock.  His  people  were 
poor,  but  loyal  and  faithful  in  the  discharge  of  their  religious  duties.  He 
succeeded  in  enlarging  and  improving  the  Cathedral  of  SS.  Peter  and 
Paul,  which  he  dedicated  on  Sunday,  April  11,  1847.  Bishop  Fitzpatrick 
celebrated  the  Pontifical  Mass  on  the  occasion,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Ryder, 
president  of  Holy  Cross,  preaclied  the  dedication  sermon.  He  died  on 
June  18,  1849,  in  the  forty-fifth  year  of  his  age.  His  funeral  services 
were  solemnized  by  Bishop  Fitzpatrick,  assisted  by  Rev.  John  McElroy, 
S.  J.,  and  the  Rev.  John  J.  Williams,  the  late  Archbishop  of  Boston ;  Rev. 
William  Wiley  preached  the  sermon,  which  was  a  splendid  tribute  from 
a  lifelong  associate  and  co-worker  in  the  sacred  ministry.  His  remains 
were  laid  at  rest  in  the  basement  of  his  Cathedral,  and  are  now  by  the 
side  of  those  of  Bishop  Hendricken  and  Bishop  Doran  in  the  vault  of  the 
new  edifice  which  has  arisen  on  the  site  of  the  narrow  strip  of  land  of 
which  the  church  was  possessed  when  he  took  up  the  labors  of  this  See. 

The  second  resident  Bishop  of  Providence  was  the  Rt.  Rev.  Barnard 
O'Reilly,  D.  D.  His  episcopate  is  replete  with  interesting  features,  as  it 
was  coincident  with  the  great  tide  of  Irish  immigration  which  flowed  to 
these  shores  during  and  immediately  after  the  years  of  the  famine  in 
Ireland.  The  consequent  increases  in  population  was  accompanied  with 
a  proportionate  increase  in  the  number  of  priests,  and  churches  which 
were  multiplied  with  a  rapidity  which  was  unprecedented  in  the  life  of 
religion  in  the  United  States.  The  Sisters  of  Mercy  were  introduced  into 
the  diocese  and  the  foundation  laid  for  the  systematic  training  of  children 
in  parochial  schools.  An  orphan  asylum  was  established  which  is  still 
continuing  its  beneficent  ministrations,  and  from  one  end  of  the  diocese 
to  the  other  there  were  indications  that  Catholicity  was  soon  to  be  an 
important  fact  and  factor  in  this  section  of  New  England.  In  addition  to 
these  great  events  of  Bishop  O'Reilly's  administration,  a  special  interest 
belongs  to  his  name  by  reason  of  its  association  with  a  mysterious  tragedy 
of  the  sea.  The  head  of  this  diocese  had  gone  to  Ireland  for  the  purpose 
of  inviting  a  teaching  order  of  men  to  Providence;  he  had  fulfilled  his 
mission  and  embarked  upon  the  Pacific,  and,  together  with  one  hundred 
and  eighty-five  other  voyagers,  he  sank  beneath  the  waters  of  the  Atlantic. 

Bishop  O'Reilly  had  three  very  special  interests  in  the  work  of  foster- 


624  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

ing  the  faith  in  his  diocese.  He  was  solicitous  to  increase  the  number  of 
the  clergy,  to  multiply  Catholic  schools,  and  to  establish  upon  a  solid 
foundation  an  institution  which  would  administer  Christian  charity  to 
the  orphans  under  his  care.  In  regard  to  the  education  of  the  children  he 
admonished  his  people  to  "watch  with  sleepless  vigilance  over  those 
precious  products  which  God  has  confided  to  you  and  which  He  will  re- 
quire at  your  hands." 

The  Orphan  Asylum  on  Prairie  avenue  owes  it  foundation  to  Bishop 
O'Reilly.  The  caring  for  dependent  children  was  a  work  than  which  he 
considered  none  more  worthy  of  a  people  devoted  to  the  service  of  God. 
"If  any  of  these  parentless  little  ones  should  be  lost."  said  he,  "through 
our  parsimony  or  neglect,  we  cannot  consider  ourselves  as  guiltless  before 
God ;  He  will  hold  us  to  a  rigid  accountability  for  the  loss  of  the  souls 
that  might  have  been  saved  for  Him  by  our  charitable  interposition." 

Bishop  O'Reilly's  visitations  to  his  diocese  were  frequent  and  labori- 
ous. He  expended  his  exertions  in  the  erections  of  schools,  asylums  and 
churches.  He  attended  the  Council  of  Baltimore,  in  1852.  He  visited 
Europe  to  procure  priests  and  teachers ;  he  defended  the  faith  in  writings 
and  in  sermons ;  he  vindicated  the  soldier's  rights  to  liberty  of  conscience 
in  the  case  of  a  private  named  Duggan  and  procured  a  court  decree  to  the 
effect  that  a  man  in  the  service  of  the  United  States  could  attend  no 
church  or  any  church  he  pleased,  according  to  his  choice.  For  months, 
over  the  title  of  "Roger  Williams,"  he  carried  on  a  controversy  concern- 
ing this  point  until  the  army  officers  were  compelled  by  the  force  of  his 
logic  to  look  at  the  matter  in  the  light  in  which  it  was  proposed  by  the 
Bishop. 

The  Rt.  Rev.  Francis  Patrick  McFarland  was  the  third  Bishop  of 
Hartford.  He  was  consecrated  on  March  14,  1858.  Bishop  McFarland 
founded  a  number  of  churches  in  Providence.  He  laid  the  cornerstone 
and  dedicated  St.  Mary's,  St.  Michael's.  St.  John's  and  the  Assumption. 

In  1S70,  within  a  quarter  of  a  century,  the  Hartford  diocese  had  100 
churches,  64  chapels,  95  priests  and  200,000  souls.  So  at  the  beginning 
of  the  year  1872  the  diocese  of  Hartford  was  divided  and  Providence 
made  a  separate  See.  Bishop  McFarland  left  Providence,  taking  with 
him  several  priests,  a  number  of  Sisters  of  Mercy  and  members  of  other 
Orders  and  went  to  Hartford  to  reside. 

On  Sunday,  February  25,  1872,  while  Bishop  McFarland  was  cele- 
brating Mass  at  Providence  in  the  Cathedral  of  SS.  Peter  and  Paul,  at 
the  end  of  the  Gospel,  he  ascended  the  pulpit  and  announced  his  approach- 
ing separation  from  the  people  of  that  congregation  and  city,  and  from 
the  people  of  Rhode  Island,  in  most  feeling  terms.  After  giving  the  his- 
tory of  the  division  of  the  diocese,  and  assuring  the  people  that  it  was 
official,  and  not  personal  ties  or  those  of  affection  that  were  to  be  severed, 


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RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES  625 

he  said:  "1  thought  then  and  still  think  that  this  is  for  your  interest,  as 
you  will  have  a  younger  and  more  zealous  Bishop  to  labor  among  you. 
The  new  diocese  will  be  an  ample  one — indeed,  more  so  than  the  present 
one  when  first  created.  Many  of  you  remember  well  when  Bishop  Tyler 
came,  and  know  the  rapid  progress  Catholicity  has  made  here  since :  the 
eight  thousand  Catholics  have  become  two  hundred  thousand  with  a  hun- 
dred churches  and  one  hundred  and  eleven  priests.  The  new  diocese  will 
embrace  one  hundred  and  ten  tliousand  Catholics  and  at  least  fifty- four 
priests." 

The  Rt.  Rev.  Thomas  F.  Ilendricken  was  consecrated  Bishop  of 
Providence  on  April  28,  1872,  and  began  his  labors  with  20  churches  and 
about  35  priests.  In  six  years  he  had  established  13  new  parishes  and 
erected  the  episcopal  residence  on  Fenner  street.  The  Old  Cathedral, 
though  only  forty  years  built  when  destroyed,  was  not  a  substantial  edifice. 
The  farewell  services  in  the  "Old  Giurch,"  the  original  Catholic  church  in 
Providence,  were  held  on  Sunday,  May  5,  1878.  The  new  pro-Cathedral 
had  been  erected,  at  a  cost  of  $30,000,  and  a  fine  episcopal  residence,  cost- 
ing $40,000,  all  paid  for.  But  the  leading  feature  of  his  earliest  under- 
takings was  to  plan  the  present  splendid  Cathedral  of  Providence,  and  to 
provide  the  means  of  erecting  it.  The  Bishop  had  set  his  heart  on  the 
work,  and  with  unflinching  courage  he  entered  on  the  undertaking.  He 
began  by  obtaining  small  collections  from  the  people,  visiting  every  parish 
in  the  diocese  in  turn,  and  finally  he  succeeded  in  im])arting  to  others  the 
enthusiasm  he  himself  had  felt,  with  the  result  of  securing  the  hearty 
cooperation  of  every  Catholic,  and  of  many  Protestant  friends.  The  col- 
lections which  amounted  to  nearly  $50,000  a  year,  enabled  him  to  carry 
on  his  great  work,  as  he  had  intended,  paying  for  it  as  he  progressed.  As 
the  old  church  lot  was  too  small,  he  first  purchased  a  lot  of  suitable  size, 
for  which  he  paid  $36,000.  On  Thanksgiving  Day,  the  cornerstone  of  the 
new  Cathedral  of  SS.  Peter  and  Paul  was  laid,  with  hopeful  and  impos- 
ing pageantry  and  religious  devotions.  His  ardor  increased  with  time  and 
with  the  development  of  the  herculean  task.  As  it  approached  a  cost  of 
$500,000  he  still  felt  more  than  ever  encouraged,  especially  as  all  was 
nearly  accomplished,  and  every  cent  was  paid.  Bishop  Hcndrickcn  died 
on  Friday,  June  11,  1886.  His  great  lifework  and  an  everlasting  monu- 
ment to  his  labors  is  the  Cathedral,  one  of  the  finest  church  buildings  in 
the  country. 

While  engaged  in  its  erection  he  was  supplying  his  diocese  with 
priests,  churches,  institutions,  and  religious  orders.  The  Jesuits  came  and 
received  charge  of  St.  Joseph's  parish.  The  Religious  of  the  Sacred  Heart 
established  their  home  at  Elmhurst,  the  Ursulines  were  introduced  in  St. 
Mary's  parish.    The  Sisters  of  Mercy  opened  a  branch  at  Fall  River,  and 

RI— 40 


626  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

the  convents  of  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  multiplied  their  schools  and  institu- 
tions. 

The  Rt.  Rev.  Matthew  Harkins,  D.  D.,  succeeded  Bishop  Hendricken. 
During  his  episcopacy,  in  everything  that  relates  to  religion,  the  progress 
and  development  of  the  church  have  been  constant  and  solid.  The  number 
of  Catholics  in  the  State  at  the  present  time  exceeds  the  combined  total  of 
all  other  denominations  and  better  provisions  have  been  made  by  their 
church  for  the  fostering  of  the  spiritual  life  of  the  people,  for  the  educa- 
tion of  the  children  and  in  charitable  endeavor,  than  by  any  other  denomi- 
nation. Because  of  these  facts  the  Catholic  Church  has  assumed,  during 
Bishop  Harkins'  administration  a  commanding  position,  and  become  a 
dominant  factor,  not  only  numerically  but  influentially  also,  in  the  life  of 
Rhode  Island.  An  evidence  of  this  phenomenal  growth  is  to  be  found  in 
the  establishment  of  parishes,  which  in  rapid  succession  have  been  created 
in  the  period  that  Bishop  Harkins  has  governed  the  diocese. 

There  were  thirteen  churches  in  the  city  of  Providence  when  Bishop 
Harkins  assumed  the  direction  of  the  diocese.  Tliere  were  twenty-five  in 
1919.  Those  in  existence  under  Bishop  Hendricken  were  the  Cathedral, 
St.  Patrick's,  St.  Mary's,  St.  Joseph's,  the  Immaculate  Conception,  St. 
Michael's,  St.  John's,  Assumption,  St.  Edward's,  St.  Charles  Borromeo, 
Holy  Name,  St.  Teresa's,  and  Our  Lady  of  the  Rosary. 

Under  the  administration  of  Bishop  Harkins  the  following  parishes 
were  founded,  every  one  of  which  has  erected  a  handsome  church  edifice : 

St.  Adelbert's  Providence ;  St.  Ann's,  Providence ;  St.  Anthony's, 
Providence;  St.  Agnes,  Providence;  St.  Bartholomew's,  Providence; 
Blessed  Sacrament,  Providence ;  St.  Charles,  Providence ;  Holy  Ghost, 
Providence;  St.  Hedwig's,  Providence;  St.  George's,  Providence;  Our 
Lady  of  Lourdes,  Providence;  St.  Raymond's,  Providence;  St.  Sebas- 
tian's, Providence;  St.  Joseph's,  Pacoag;  Our  Lady  of  Good  Help.  Maple- 
ville ;  Holy  Trinity,  Centra!  Falls ;  St.  Matthew's,  Central  Falls ;  St. 
Joseph's,  Central  Falls ;  St.  Matthew's,  Cranston ;  St.  Paul's,  Cranston ; 
St.  Brendan's.  East  Providence ;  St.  Margaret's,  East  Providence ;  St. 
Francis  Xavier,  East  Providence ;  St.  Brigid's,  Johnston ;  St.  Roco's, 
Thornton  :  Our  Lady  of  Grace,  Johnston ;  St.  Ambrose,  Albion ;  St.  Law- 
rence's, Centredale ;  Presentation,  Marieville ;  St.  John's,  Slatersville ;  St. 
Cecelia's,  Pawtucket ;  St.  Edward's,  Pawtucket ;  St.  John's,  Pawtucket ; 
St.  Leo's,  Pawtucket ;  Our  Lady  of  Consolation,  Pawtucket ;  St.  Aloysius, 
Woonsocket ;  Holy  Family,  Woonsocket ;  Our  Lady  of  Victories.  Woon- 
socket ;  St.  Stanislaus,  Woonsocket ;  Holy  Angels,  Barrington ;  St.  Eliza- 
beth's, Bristol;  Our  Lady  of  Mt.  Carmel.  Bristol;  St.  Casimir's,  Warren; 
St.  John's,  Warren  ;  St.  Alexander's,  Warren  ;  Our  Lady  of  Czenstochowa, 
Ouidnick ;  St.  John's,  Artie :  St.  Joseph's,  Natick ;  Our  Lady  of  Good 
Counsel,  Phenix ;  St.  Benedict's,  Conimicut ;  St.  Mark's,  Jamestown;  St. 
Augustine's,  Newport ;  St.  Andrew's,  Block  Island ;  St.  Anthony's,  Ports- 
mouth ;  St.  Philomena's,  Narragansett  Pier ;  St.  Bernard's,  Wickford,  and 
Immaculate  Conception,  Westerly. 


RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES  627 

Bishop  Harkins  has  under  his  jurisdiction  275,000  souls,  which  is 
more  than  one-half  the  total  population  of  our  State,  and  even  judging 
the  condition  of  his  diocese  from  these  statistics  alone,  it  is  evident,  con- 
sidering its  territory,  that  it  is  one  of  the  most  compact,  most  prosperous 
and  best  organized  in  the  United  States.  There  is  no  thickly  settled  por- 
tion of  Rhode  Island  in  which  there  is  not  a  Catholic  church,  and  many 
of  these  are  the  best  examples  of  architecture  that  there  are  in  our  State. 
All  over  Rhode  Island  are  magnificent  edifices  dedicated  to  the  glory  of 
God.  and  all  of  them  are  so  substantially  constructed  that  they  will  meet 
the  needs  of  the  various  parishes  as  places  in  which  God  may  be  wor- 
shipped for  many  years  to  come.  For  the  greater  part  of  his  episcopate, 
his  jurisdiction  extended  over  that  portion  of  Massachusetts  which  be- 
longed to  the  Providence  diocese  until  the  year  1904,  and  there,  also,  many 
substantial  church  institutional  and  educational  structures  were  erected 
during  that  period  of  his  administration. 

In  many  of  the  parishes  the  modest  structure  of  wood  of  the  pioneer 
days  of  Rhode  Island's  Catholicity  has  been  replaced  by  the  more  sub- 
stantial structure  of  brick  or  stone  and  the  erection  of  the  church  edifices 
has  frequently  been  accompanied  with  the  building  of  the  parochial  schools 
so  that  now  the  school  property  of  the  diocese  has  a  valuation  to  be  esti- 
mated in  figures  of  millions,  and  the  last  great  work  of  Bishop  Harkins 
was  the  foundation  of  Providence  College,  which  is  one  of  the  most  pre- 
tentious educational  buildings  to  be  found  in  the  United  States.  It  was 
completed  in  the  year  1918,  formally  blessed  on  May  25,  1919,  and  opened 
for  classes  September  of  the  same  year.  The  faculty  is  composed  of  mem- 
bers of  the  Dominican  Order,  and  the  courses  lead  to  the  usual  degrees 
given  in  American  colleges.  The  establishment  of  this  institution  brings 
to  completion  the  Catholic  education  system  of  the  State,  and  the  schools 
now  embrace  every  grade,  through  the  primary  and  secondary  to  the  col- 
legiate courses  imparted  in  the  magnificent  Gothic  structure  known  as  the 
Bishop  Harkins  Hall. 

Two  auxiliaries  and  a  co-adjutor  Bishop  were  appointed  by  the  Holy 
See  to  assist  Bishop  Harkins  in  his  extensive  episcopal  labors.  The  first 
of  these  was  the  Rt.  Rev.  Thomas  F.  Doran,  Vicar-General  of  the  diocese 
for  twenty-three  years,  and  named  as  Auxiliary  by  Pope  Pius  X  in  1915. 
He  filled  the  office  for  about  a  year,  and  his  death  occurred  on  January  3, 
1916.  On  July  13  of  the  following  year,  the  Rt.  Rev.  D.  M.  Lowney  suc- 
ceeded to  the  important  office  of  Au.xiliary,  and  was  consecrated  October 
23,  191 7.  Bishop  Lowney  was  called  to  his  reward  in  August,  1918,  and  in 
January,  1919,  the  Rt.  Rev.  Augustin  Hickey,  of  Qinton,  Massachusetts, 
was  named  by  Pope  Benedict  XV  as  a  Co-adjutor  to  the  See  of  Provi- 
dence. Bishop  Hickey  was  consecrated  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  Thomas  Beaven  in 
the  Cathedral  of  SS.  Peter  and  Paul  on  April  25,  1919,  and  succeeded  to 


62S  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

the  spiritual  leadership  of  the  275,000  Catholics  who  are  now  to  be  found 
within  the  borders  of  this  State. 

There  are  238  priests  attached  to  the  ninety-four  churches  and  mis- 
sions and  the  sixty  chapels  which  are  scattered  over  Rliode  Island.  There 
are  three  academies  for  young  men,  five  for  young  ladies,  and  fortynDne 
parochial  schools,  in  which  institutions  there  are  upwards  of  25,000  chil- 
dren. Four  Orphan  Asylums  are  caring  for  an  average  of  600  children, 
and  an  Infant  Asylum  assumes  the  burdens  of  protecting  two  hundred 
more.  There  are  two  hospitals  conducted  under  Catholic  auspices,  St. 
Joseph's  here  in  Providence,  and  the  Hills  Grove  Sanitarium,  both  in 
charge  of  the  Sisters  of  St.  Francis.  Two  Homes  for  Working  Girls 
furnish  accommodations  for  two  hundred,  and  the  Home  for  Working 
Boys  provides  for  sixty.  The  Little  Sisters  of  the  Poor  maintain  a  Home 
for  the  Aged  in  Pawtucket,  and  the  average  number  of  inmates  is  about 
three  hundred.  There  are  five  Day  Nurseries  for  Children,  two  Industrial 
Schools  and  two  Summer  Homes,  and  all  of  these  are  performing  a  social 
service  that  is  a  notable  contribution  to  the  welfare  of  the  community.  In 
its  organization,  its  church  property,  its  educational  system,  its  charitable 
institutions,  and  in  its  exceptional  facilities  for  accomplishing  effective 
religious  work,  the  Catholic  Church  in  Rhode  Island  can  scarcely  be  sur- 
passed in  any  diocese  in  the  whole  range  of  the  United  States. 

Concerning  the  Jews. 

Rhode  Island  is  prominent  in  the  early  history  of  the  Jews  of  Amer- 
ica. LTntil  the  Revolution,  Newport  was  far  more  important  than  New 
York,  and  its  extensive  trade  facilities  attracted  many  Jewish  merchants. 
It  was  only  one  of  the  inexplicable  occurrences  of  history  which  later 
gave  to  New  York  its  supremacy,  to  Newport  its  decline. 

Life  was  a  constant  struggle  for  the  early  white  settlers  in  Rhode 
Island.  Game  and  fish  were  plentiful,  but  other  food  was  scarce,  and  as 
these  settlers  were  unaccustomed  to  agriculture  or  cattle  raising,  they 
would  have  starved  but  for  the  assistance  of  the  Indians,  whose  friendly 
aid  they  gained  through  Roger  Williams,  who  had  early  won  the  esteem 
of  the  red  man. 

If  this  pioneer  life  was  difficult  for  the  average  settler,  what  must  it 
have  meant  of  hardship  for  the  observant  Jewess.  When  meat  could  be 
obtained  only  from  the  Indians,  how  was  she  to  give  her  family  the  kosher 
meat  her  religion  demanded?  How,  in  this  new,  strange  land,  far  from 
the  niceties  of  civilization,  was  she  to  maintain  any  of  the  ceremonies 
of  her  religion  ?  Hers  must  have  been  a  repetition  of  the  trials  which 
beset  the  Jewish  housewife  during  the  forty  years  in  the  wilderness. 
And  yet,  despite  all  difficulties,  she  conquered.  She  gladly  endured  tem- 
poral discomforts  for  the  joy  of  worshipping  her  God  unmolested.  Re- 
member, many  of  these  women  came  from  Spain  and  Portugal  where  the 
Inquisition  had  forced  them  to  become  Marranos ;  where  persecution  was 


Contributed. 


RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES  629 

so  strong  tliat  their  children  had  two  sets  of  names,  Catholic  names  for 
the  outside  world,  Jewish  names  for  the  home  circle.  Remember  that 
these  women,  to  disarm  suspicion  and  to  save  their  lives  and  the  lives  of 
their  children,  seemingly  told  their  beads  in  public,  though  their  hearts 
formed,  not  the  Ave  Maria  and  the  Pater  Noster,  but  the  Shemang. 
Remember  that  these  women  were  so  much  slaves  of  habit  and  fear  that 
even  here,  far  from  their  bloodthirsty  oppressors,  they  still  lingered 
their  beads  as  they  repeated  their  Hebrew  prayers,  though  their  one  desire 
was  to  throw  off  all  memory  of  their  days  of  persecution.  To  this  end. 
their  first  act  in  the  new  country  was  to  return  publicly  to  their  faith, 
forever  abjuring  the  Catholic  names  forced  upon  them  in  Spain,  and  even 
though  they  had  grown-up  children,  being  re-married  according  to  Jewish 
rites.  Such  were  Moses  Lopez,  whose  name  in  Portugal  was  Jose,  Ed- 
ward Lopez,  who  re-married  his  wife,  changing  the  name  of  his  daughters 
from  .Anna  and  Catherine  to  Abigail  and  Sarah,  and  Michael  Lopez,  who 
changed  his  name  to  Abraham,  and  who  re-married  his  wife,  changing  her 
name  from  Joana  to  Abigail. 

The  fifteen  Jewish  families  that  came  to  Newport  from  Holland  in 
1658  immediately  fomied  a  Congregation,  Jeshuat  Israel  (Salvation  of 
Israel.)  They  worshipped  at  the  houses  of  the  members  until  their  de- 
scendants in  1759  laid  the  foundations  of  the  present  Synagogue  which 
was  completed  in  1763.  There  also  came  in  1658  two  Spanish  Jews, 
Moses  Pacheco  and  Mordecai  Campanal  who  brought  with  them  the  three 
Masonic  degrees,  and  who  organized  the  first  Masonic  Lodge  in  America. 
The  meetings  were  held  in  the  members'  homes  until  St.  John's  Lodge 
was  organized  in  1750. 

All  of  these  families  were  of  high  moral  and  financial  standing,  and 
their  money  and  marked  ability  added  much  to  the  development  of  the 
coimtry.  Their  women  endured  many  discomforts  until  at  the  end  of  the 
seventeenth  century  Newport  commenced  to  build  a  comfortable  type  of 
house,  Providence  at  the  same  period  having  only  log  houses  with  a  ladder 
leading  to  the  second  story. 

In  1684  a  public  officer,  William  Dyre,  seized  the  estates  of  some 
Jews  on  the  ground  that  they  were  aliens,  but  their  good  conduct  during 
their  twenty  odd  years  of  residence  stood  them  in  good  stead,  the  General 
Assembly  ruling  in  their  favor,  and  saying  that  they  "might  e.xpect  as 
good  protection  here  as  any  stranger  not  of  our  nation  ought  to  have,  being 
obedient  to  the  laws."  But  they  were  obliged  to  remain  strangers  and 
were  not  permitted  to  become  part  of  the  nation,  for  when  Aaron  Lopez 
and  Isaac  Eleazar  applied  in  1762  for  naturalization,  the  Newport  Super- 
ior Court  denied  it  on  religious  grounds,  and  this  discrimination  (which 
did  not  then  exist  in  New  York)  was  not  removed  in  Newport  until  1783. 

In  1694  Jews  from  Curacao  came  to  Newport,  and  after  the  earth- 
quake in  Lisbon  in  1755  sixty  Sjjanish  families  joined  them,  all  wealthy, 
well-educated  merchants.  This  education  made  their  women  prominent  in 
a  community  where  but  few  English  women  could  even  sign  their  own 
names.  They  brought  not  only  education,  but  personal  refinement,  rumor 
having  it  that  they  introduced  into  Newport  the  use  of  the  tooth-brush. 

They  came  into  a  country  where  for  more  than  thirty  years  every 
family  in  comfortable  circumstances  owned  at  least  one  slave.    The  freely 


630  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

given  labor  of  the  Indians  was  a  thing  of  the  past.  There  were  a  very- 
few  white  laborers,  but  the  first  settlers  were  practically  on  a  social  equal- 
ity, and  slavery  became  perforce  a  national  institution. 

The  housewives  of  that  day  had  to  struggle  with  prices  beside  which 
even  our  war  prices  of  to-day  seem  ridiculously  low  when  we  consider 
the  greater  purchasing  power  of  money  in  general  at  that  time.  The  Eng- 
lish shilling  then  in  use  was  the  equivalent  of  i6j^  cents.  In  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century  Newport  housewives  were  paying  for  beef  4s. 
6d.,  that  is,  75  cents  a  pound ;  for  milk,  16^  cents  a  quart ;  butter,  $1.16% 
a  pound ;  cheese,  50  cents  a  pound.  A  seamstress  received  $12  a  week 
for  dressmaking,  but  quilting  was  more  important,  so  for  overseeing  a 
quilting  bee  she  was  paid  $3  a  day. 

The  names  of  these  early  settlers  survive  in  our  well-known  Jewish 
families  of  to-day.  Solomon,  Mendes,  Moses,  Meyers,  Lyon,  Jacobs, 
Eleazar — these  were  among  the  earliest  settlers,  and  in  1755  came  the 
Lopez,  Rivera,  Polack,  Hart  and  Hays  families. 

At  that  time  if  Jtliens  traded  in  English  colonies,  their  vessels  and 
goods  were  forfeit.  We  have  seen  that  Newport  was  unwilling  to  grant 
naturalization  to  Jews,  so  before  going  to  the  English  colony  of  Newport, 
Moses  Lopez,  Abram  de  Rivera  and  Solomon  Hart  were  naturalized  in 
the  Dutch  colony  of  New  York. 

These  families  became  closely  connected  by  marriage,  Moses  Lopez 
marrying  Rebecca,  the  daughter  of  Abram  de  Rivera,  and  Moses  Seixas 
marrying  Jochebed  Levy.  Moses  Seixas  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
Bank  of  Rhode  Island  and  was  its  cashier  until  his  death.  He  was  the 
first  Master  of  St.  John's  Masonic  Lodge  of  Newport  and  Grand  Master 
of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Rhode  Island.  He  had  a  patriarchal  quiverful 
of  daughters,  Bilhah,  Abigail,  Grace,  Esther,  Rachel,  Hannah  and  Judith. 
Bilhah,  Abigail  and  Esther  died  unmarried.  Rachel  was  married  July 
5,  1797,  to  Naphthali  Phillips  in  what  is  now  the  Perry  Mansion  on  the 
Parade,  Newport.  At  that  time  it  was  the  family  residence  of  Moses 
Seixas  who  later  sold  it  to  Commodore  Oliver  Hazard  Perry.  Grace  re- 
mained a  spinster  until  the  mellow  age  of  seventy-two,  when  she  married 
Dr.  Benjamin  I.  Cohen.  Truly,  romance  springs  eternal  in  the  feminine 
breast. 

It  was  not  for  lack  of  suitors  that  she  remained  single  until  prac- 
tically the  end  of  her  days,  for  she  was  a  beautiful,  talented  woman  who 
shone  in  the  community.  In  her  youth.  Governor  Wanton  of  Rliode 
Island  was  deeply  in  love  with  her,  but  she  could  not  persuade  herself  to 
consider  intermarriage.  She  was  well  and  favorably  known  as  a  writer 
of  prose  and  poetry,  though  her  one  book,  "Rose-Marie"  is  all  that  we 
have  left  to-day.  Only  two  copies  are  known  to  exist,  one  in  the  Red- 
wood Library  at  Newport,  and  one  in  the  New  York  Public  Library. 

There  is  not  much  trace  in  the  old  cemetery  at  Newport  of  the  early 
Jewish  women.  When  the  cemetery  was  repaired  according  to  the  pro- 
visions of  fudah  Touro's  will,  many  stones  were  found  to  be  broken  and 
crumbled.  These  remnants  were  reverently  gathered  and  buried,  and 
records  which  would  have  been  of  inestimable  value  were  forever  lost. 
Tlie  earliest  stones  left  are  to  the  memory  of  women  who  lived  and  died 
in  Boston,  but  who  were  buried  in  Newport,  as,  for  instance,  Reyna,  wife 


RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES  631 

of  Isaac  Touro,  Rachel  Hays  and  Mrs.  Fegla  Elkan.  Other  valuable 
records  which  we  would  have  prized  to-day,  were  destroyed  by  the 
British  when  they  occupied  Newport. 

In  1763  the  Newport  Synagogue,  the  oldest  in  America,  was  com- 
pleted at  a  cost  of  2000  poun<ls  sterling,  although  there  w-ere  only  t\venty 
Jewish  families  in  Newport  at  the  time.  It  was  dedicated  on  Deccmlier 
2,  its  first  chasan  being  Isaac  Touro,  a  refugee  from  Portugal.  Three 
copies  of  the  Torah  (one  from  Amsterdam,  200  years  old)  were  carried 
in  solemn  procession  and  deposited  in  the  Ark.  The  ceremony  was  im- 
pressive and  the  Synagogue  beautiful  in  its  simplicity.  It  is  a  building 
40x30,  with  a  deep  gallery^  supported  on  Ionic  columns,  these  topped  by 
Corinthian  pillars,  which  hold  the  roof.  Dr.  Ezra  Stiles,  President  of 
Yale  i'niversity,  who  was  present  says,  "The  order  and  decorum,  the 
harmony  and  solemnity  of  the  musick,  together  with  a  handsome  assembly 
of  people  in  an  edifice  the  most  perfect  of  the  Temple  kind  periiaps  in 
America,  and  splendidly  illuminated,  could  not  but  raise  in  the  mind  a 
faint  idea  of  the  majesty  and  grandeur  of  the  ancient  Jewish  worship." 

Perhaps  the  most  interesting  of  all  the  Newport  families  was  the 
Touro  family,  descendants  of  the  first  chasan.  Abraham  Touro  in  1822 
left  $10,000  to  the  State  of  Rho<!e  Island  for  the  preservation  of  the  Syna- 
gogue, and  his  brother  Judah,  in  1854,  left  $10,000  similarly  in  trust  for 
the  preservation  of  the  cemetery  and  for  the  salary  of  a  Rabbi.  In  their 
honor  the  street  on  which  the  Synagogue  stands  is  called  Touro  street. 

Judah  Touro  was  much  opposed  to  slavery  and  owned  but  one  slave. 
He  gave  this  slave  a  business  education,  and  then  emancipated  him  and  set 
him  up  in  business  for  himself.  He  urged  all  his  friends  to  free  their 
slaves  and  helped  in  that  wherever  possible.  He  was  public  spirited,  as 
is  evidenced  by  his  donation  of  $10,000  which  made  possible  the  building 
of  Bunker  Hill  monument.  He  was  so  universally  beloved  that  on  June 
6,  1854,  delegations  came  from  all  over  the  country  to  attend  his  funeral, 
these  delegations  being  the  guests  of  the  city  of  Newport.  He  never  mar- 
ried. He  and  his  cousin,  Catherine  Hays,  one  of  the  prominent  Newport 
women,  loved  each  other,  but  their  close  relationship  prevented  their  mar- 
riage and  both  remained  single.  But  she  felt  she  could  not  remain  in 
Newport  and  moved  to  Richmond,  \'irginia,  where  she  died  the  same 
month,  almost  the  same  day  that  he  died.  In  memory  of  their  unhappy 
love,  he  left  her  $5,000  in  his  will. 

After  his  death  there  was  a  project  to  erect  a  monument  to  him.  but 
this  was  abandoned  as  being  a  violation  of  Jewish  law.  He  remembered 
all  existing  charitable  organizations  liberally  in  his  will,  not  only  those  of 
Rhode  Island,  but  also  many  in  various  parts  of  the  country.  The  best 
proof  that  there  was  no  Jewish  woman's  organization  in  Rhode  Island  at 
that  time  is  the  fact  that  none  was  mentioned  in  this  generous  document. 

No  history  of  the  Jews  of  Rhode  Island,  men  or  women,  would  be 
complete  without  a  mention  of  Brown  University  which,  in  its  women's 
annex,  Pembroke,  has  so  many  of  our  Jewish  girls  of  to-day.  This 
University,  a  Baptist  institution,  was  opened  to  Jews  by  a  subscription 
in  1770  of  20  pounds  sterling  (about  $100)  by  ^Ioses  Lindo,  a  Jewish 
merchant  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  The  University  Corporation 
thereupon  voted  "That  the  children  of  Jews  may  be  admitted  into  this 


632  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

institution  and  entirely  enjoy  the  freedom  of  their  rehgion  without  any 
restraint  or  imposition  whatever,  and  that  the  Oiancellor  and  President 
do  write  Mr.  Moses  Lindo  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  and  give  him 
intimation  of  this  resolution." 

The  personnel  of  the  Jewish  population  of  Newport  changed  with 
the  Revolution.  The  Jews  were  loyal  to  the  States,  and  when  the  British 
occupied  Newport,  they  left  for  Leicester,  Massachusetts,  Charleston, 
Savannah,  Richmond  and  Philadelphia.  For  years  the  Jewish  population 
was  negligible.  In  1883  a  few  German  Jews  found  their  way  there,  the 
most  prominent  family  being  that  of  Eugene  Schrej.  Later  Jews  came 
from  southeastern  Europe  and  the  Synagogue  was  re-opened.  The  Span- 
ish element  survived  in  its  Rabbi,  Rev.  Dr.  Abraham  Mendes,  who  was 
greatlv  beloved  and  to  whose  memory  a  beautiful  carved  olive  wood  tablet 
has  been  placed  in  the  Synagogue. 

The  first  activity  among  the  Jewish  women  of  Newport  was  in  1892 
when  a  charitable  association  was  organized  by  Mrs.  Rosen.  In  1905  a 
Section  of  the  C.  J.  W.  was  organized  by  Mrs.  Misch  with  Miss  Sara 
Schreier  as  president. 

Providence  had  a  few  Jewish  settlers  in  ijbt),  but  there  was  no  com- 
munal activity  until  1840,  when  Solomon  Pereira  of  Amsterdam  settled 
there,  followed  shortly  by  enough  others  to  make  ]\Tinyan.  A  Congrega- 
tion was  thereupon  formed  which  met  in  Percira's  home.  An  alcove  in 
his  parlor  was  used  for  the  Sefer  Torah  which  was  borrowed  from  New 
York  for  the  Holy  Days.  He  later  donated  ground  for  a  cemetery  and 
built  round  it  the  fence  which  the  law  demanded.  The  members  of  this 
early  Congregation  were  Wormser,  Stern,  Pereira,  Rashkover,  Stein- 
berger,  Frank,  Nathan,  Solomon,  Halberstadt  and  KaUer.  There  were 
itemized  charges  against  Kalter's  estate  for  ten  men  for  minyan,  for  the 
seven  days'  shiva,  and  for  a  bolt  of  linen  for  a  shroud.  In  1854  the  Con- 
gregation was  formed  which  is  to-day  the  Reform  Temple  Beth  El. 

The  first  communal  activity  of  the  Jewish  women  of  Providence  was 
the  organization  in  1872  by  the  then  Rabbi,  Rev.  Dr.  Voorsanger  of  the 
Ladies'  Montefiore  Hebrew  Benevolent  Association,  still  in  existence  as 
a  benevolent  and  charitable  organization.  The  first  officers  were:  Presi- 
dent, Mrs.  David  Frank;  vice-president,  Mrs.  Charles  Green;  treasurer, 
Mrs.  Julius  Shuman.  In  1894  a  Section  of  the  C.  J.  W.  was  organized  by 
Rev.  Dr.  David  Blaustein  with  Mrs.  David  C.  Fink  as  president. 

The  Jewish  settlements  in  the  other  cities  and  towns  of  the  State  are 
the  organization  in  1872  by  the  then  Rabbi,  Rev.  Dr.  Voorsanger,  of  the 
years  old.  In  1916  a  Section  of  the  C.  J.  W.  was  organized  in  Pawtucket 
by  Mrs.  William  Loeb  and  Mrs.  Misch  with  Mrs.  Jules  Levy  as  president. 
The  two  Rhode  Island  Sections  of  the  Council,  Pawtucket  and  Providence, 
are  valued  members  of  the  Rhode  Island  State  Federation  of  Women's 
Clubs,  and  lead  in  all  affairs  of  import  to  the  women  in  general  of  the 
State. 

We  may  have  seemed  to  say  too  much  about  the  men  of  the  pioneer 
days,  but  records  of  the  women  are  scanty,  while  the  records  of  the  men 
show  what  position  they,  and  through  them  their  women  held  and  through 
what  conditions  they  built  their  lives.  It  is  a  picture  of  a  happy  life 
almost  patriarchal  in  its  simplicity,  a  life  which  despite  the  hardships  en- 


RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES  633 

countered  in  the  new,  undeveloped  country,  was  but  a  pleasant,  dreamless 
rest  after  the  horrible  nightmare  of  the  Spanish  Jnc|uisition  from  which 
so  many  of  the  pioneer  Rhode  Island  Jews  were  refugees. 

In  Providence  there  are  one  Reform  Jewish  Temple  (progressive), 
seven  synogogues  (orthodox),  and  tliree  Hevras  (which  are  smaller  con- 
gregations without  a  building  for  religious  activities).  Newport  has  two 
synogogues;  Pawtucket,  one;  Woonsocket,  one;  Bristol,  one;  Westerly, 
one ;  making  a  total  of  seventeen  in  the  Slate  of  Rhode  Island. 

The  Jewish  Orphanage  of  Rhode  Island  is  located  at  1213  North 
Main  street,  Providence.  The  first  Jewish  Orphanage  in  Providence  was 
established  on  W'illard  avenue.  A  second  one  was  opened  on  Orms  street, 
which  met  with  more  encouragement,  because  of  the  earnest  endeavors  of 
the  Jewish  women.  It  was  not  until  the  two  were  combined  in  1909,  the 
date  of  incorporation  of  the  present  institution,  that  the  Orphanage  was 
placed  upon  a  substantial  financial  basis  by  the  leading  Jewish  business 
men  who  were  elected  to  the  directorship  of  the  home.  On  June  24,  1910, 
its  present  location  was  acquired  and  occupied.  Since  that  time  until  the 
present,  under  the  presidency  of  William  Schloss,  one  of  its  organizers, 
this  institution  has  become  the  most  popular  Jewish  agency  in  the  State 
of  Rhode  Island,  both  with  respect  to  its  large  membership,  which  approxi- 
mates HOC  persons,  and  to  its  financial  support.  Early  in  the  year  1913 
the  directors  decided  that  a  more  salutary  development  of  the  work  of  the 
home  and  better  training  of  the  children  would  be  effected  by  securing  a 
superintendent  who  had  experience  in  such  work  and  who  was  expert  in 
child  training.  On  April  i  of  that  year  Henry  Woolf,  A.  M.,  former 
superintendent  of  the  Leopold  Morse  Home  of  Boston,  was  elected  to 
this  position,  and  under  his  administration  the  Orphanage  has  ranked 
among  the  first  progressive  Jewish  orphan  asylums  in  the  country.  The 
Ladies'  Auxiliary  to  the  Jewish  Orphanage  of  Rliode  Island  was  organ- 
ized in  1912  as  an  auxiliary  to  the  Orphanage  corporation. 

The  Hebrew  Ladies"  Union  Aid  Association  was  organized  in  1881, 
in  Providence.  It  functions  as  a  relief  agency  for  the  Jewish  poor  of  this 
city.  It  has  the  largest  membership  of  any  Jewish  relief  organization  in 
the  State,  its  subscribers  numbering  approximately  700.  This  association 
also  supports  entirely  the  Jewish  Old  Polks"  Home,  located  at  i6i  Orms 
street.  This  home  was  established  by  the  Ladies'  Union  Aid  .\ssociation, 
in  the  year  1915,  for  the  purpose  of  caring  for  indigent  and  infirm  aged 
Hebrews  of  both  sexes. 

The  Hebrew  Free- Loan  Association  of  Providence  was  organized 
February  4,  1903.  The  purpose  of  this  association  is  to  loan  to  persons 
of  the  Jewish  community  certain  amounts  of  money  without  interest 
which  will  help  them  to  tide  over  financial  difficulties  or  which  will  aid  in 
setting  them  up  in  a  small  business  way,  so  that  the  recipient  may  not  have 
to  become  even  a  temporary  dependent  ujion  charity.  The  notes  of  the 
recipients  are  endorsed  by  substantial  business  men,  so  that  rarely  have 
any  of  the  funds  been  lost  to  the  association.  At  the  time  of  the  creation 
of  this  agency,  loans  amounting  to  $25  could  be  advanced.  At  present 
loans  are  made  as  high  as  $500. 

The  Hebrew  Educational  Institute,  located  at  65  Benefit  street.  Provi- 
dence, was  incorporated  April  16,  1914.    The  organizer  was  Dr.  Albert  I. 


634  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

Pobirs,  of  Providence.  The  objects  of  the  institute  are  "to  acquire  a 
building  to  be  properly  equipped  with  the  facilities  for  maintaining  depart- 
ments of  Jewish  learning  where  the  young  people  of  the  Jewish  faith  may 
be  instructed  in  Jewish  thought  and  life;  where  concerted  action  shall 
have  for  its  aim,  regeneration  in  the  field  of  mental,  moral  and  physical 
development,  in  order  that  they  may  not  be  carried  away  from  their  faith 
for  which  our  fathers  have  paid  so  dearly ;  to  maintain  a  place  where 
local  Jewish  activities  may  be  centralized  under  competent  Jewish  authori- 
ties, able  to  expound  the  axioms  of  the  spiritual  elements  of  religion  har- 
mony and  brotherly  love,  as  the  governing  principles  of  uniting  the  Jewish 
communjty  into  one  indestructible  body  of  noble,  intelligent  American 
citizens." 

Early  Opinions  as  to  State  of  Religion  in  Rhode  Island. 

Rhode  Island. — This  island  is  about  fifouerteen  miles  Long,  in  some 
places  3  or  4  miles  Broad,  in  other  lesse.  It  is  full  of  people  haveing 
been  a  receptacle  for  people  of  severall  sorts  and  opinions.  There  was  a 
Patent  granted  to  one  Coddington  for  the  Government  of  this  Island,  and 
Warwick  and  Providence,  two  Townes  which  lye  on  the  Maine,  and  I 
think  they  still  keepe  a  seeming  forme  of  Government  but  to  little  pur- 
pose, none  submitting  to  Supream  Authority  but  as  they  please. — Samuel 
Maverick,  Boston,  1624-1664,  from  "Account  of  New  England,"  1660. 

They  allow  liberty  of  conscience  and  worship  to  all  who  live  civilly. 

In  this  Colony  is  the  greatest  number  of  Indians,  yet  they  never  had 
anything  allowed  towards  the  civilizing  and  converting  the  Indians.     *     * 

In  this  Province  only,  they  have  not  any  place  set  apart  for  the  wor- 
ship of  God,  there  being  so  many  subdivided  sects,  they  cannot  agree  to 
meet  togeather  in  one  place,  but  according  to  their  severall  judgments, 
they  sometimes  associate  in  one  house,  sometimes  in  another. — Col.  Rich- 
ard Nichols,  first  English  Governor  of  New  York,  1665. 

Those  people  that  goe  under  the  denomination  of  Baptists  and  Quak- 
ers are  the  most  that  publicly  congregate  together,  but  there  are  others  of 
divers  persuasions  and  principles  all  which  together  with  them  injoy 
their  liberties  *  *  *  wherein  all  people  in  our  Colloney  are  to  enjoy 
their  liberty  of  conscience  provided  their  liberty  extend  not  to  licentious- 
ness but  as  for  Papists,  wee  know  of  none  amongst  us. 

We  leave  every  man  to  walke  as  God  shall  persuade  their  hartes,  and 
doe  actively  and  passively  yield  obedience  to  the  Civill  Magistrate  and 
doe  not  actively  disturb  the  Civill  peace  and  live  peaceably  in  the  Corpora- 
tion as  our  Charter  requires,  and  have  liberty  to  frequent  any  meetings  of 
worship  for  their  better  instruction  and  information,  but  as  for  beggars 
and  vagabonds  wee  have  none  amongst  us. — Peleg  San  ford.  Governor, 
1680. 

Road  Island. — Here  is  a  medley  of  most  Persuasions,  but  neither 
church  nor  Meeting  House,  except  one  built  for  the  use  of  the  Quakers, 
who  are  here  very  numerous,  and  have  annually  a  General  Meeting  from 
all  Quarters. 

Many  of  the  others  regard  neither  Time,  nor  Place,  nor  Worship; 
and  even  some  very  sober  men  have  lived  so  long  without  it,  that  they 
think  all  instituted  Religion  useless. 


RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES  635 

The  Narragansett  Countrey.  Churches  here  are  none,  and  but  a 
few  Houses ;  I  cannot  say  there  is  one  English  town  in  the  whole  Prov- 
ince. What  is  most  considerable  *  *  *  is  the  settlement  of  the 
I'Vcnch  Protestants,  who,  on  the  violence  of  the  Persecution,  left  their 
country,  came  over  to  New  England,  and  took  up  their  habitation  in  this 
Wilderness ;  when  they  have  made  good  imjirovement,  live  comfortably, 
and  have  planted  great  numbers  of  vines,  which  they  say  thrive  well,  and 
it  is  hoped  will  be  very  beneficial  to  them. — N.  N.,  1690  (Author  Un- 
known ) . 

The  Collonv  of  Rhode  Island,  Etc. — They  seem  wholly  to  have 
neglected  the  Royal'  intention,  and  their  own  professed  declaration  *  * 
*  "of  Godly  edifying  themselves  and  one  another  in  the  holy  Christian 
faith  and  worship,  and  for  the  gaining  over  and  conversion  of  the  poor 
ignorant  Indian  natives  to  the  sincere  professions  and  observance  of  the 
same  faith  and  worship."  Upon  which  grounds,  they  were  granted  to 
have  and  enjoy  their  judgments  and  conscience  in  matters  of  religious 
concernments,  they  behaving  themselves  peaceably  and  quietly,  and  not 
using  their  liberty  to  licentiousness  and  profaneness.  In  that  they  have 
never  erected  nor  encouraged  any  school  of  learning,  or  had  the  means 
of  instriiction  by  a  learned  orthodox  ministry.  The  government,  being 
elective,  has  been  kept  in  the  hands  of  such  who  have  strenuously  opposed 
the  same ;  and  the  generality  of  the  people  are  shamefully  ignorant,  and 
all  manner  of  licentiousness  and  profaneness  does  greatly  abound,  and 
i.'^  indulged  within  that  government. — Lord  Bellamont,  Governor  of  New 
England,  i(*)(). 

Rhode  Island. — I  believe  there  never  was  held  such  a  variety  of 
religions  together  on  so  small  a  spot  of  ground  as  have  been  in  that  Col- 
ony. It  has  a  colluvies  of  Antinomians,  Familists,  Anabaptists,  Antisab- 
batians,  Arntinians,  Socinians,  Quakers,  Ranters,  every  thing  in.  the  world 
but  Roman  Catholics  and  real  Christians,  tho'  of  the  tatter,  I  hope  there 
have  been  more  than  of  the  former  among  them ;  so  that  if  a  man  had  lost 
his  religion,  he  might  find  it  at  the  general  muster  of  opinionists! 

I  may  venture  to  say,  that  Rhode  Island  has  usually  been  the  Ger- 
izzim  of  New  England:  *  *  *  Bona  Terra,  Malagens.  The  condi- 
tion of  the  rising  generation  upon  that  Island  is  indeed  exceedingly 
lamentable! — Cotton  Mather,  Boston,  1702. 

Newport. — The  inhabitants  are  of  a  mixed  kind  consisting  of  many 
sorts  and  subdivisions  of  sects.  Here  are  four  sorts  of  Ana  Baptists, 
besides  Presbyterians,  Quakers,  Independents,  and  many  of  no  profes- 
sion at  all,  notwithstanding  so  many  differences,  here  are  fewer  c|uarrels 
about  religion  than  elsewhere,  the  people  living  peaceably  with  their  neigh- 
bors, of  whatever  profession.  They  all  agree  in  one  point,  that  the  Church 
of  England  is  the  second  best. — Bishop  Berkeley,  1720. 

Too  many  of  them  have  worn  off  a  serious  sense  of  all  religion.  Sev- 
eral of  the  better  sort  are  accustomed  to  meet  on  the  Lord's  day  for  the 
performance  of  divine  worship,  but  most  of  those  who  are  dispersed 
throughout  this  Colony  seem  to  rival  some  well-bred  people  of  other 
countries  in  thorough  indifference  for  all  that  is  sacred,  being  equally  care- 
less of  outward  worship,  and  of  inward  principles,  whether  of  faith  or 
practice.    Of  the  bulk  of  them  it  may  be  certainly  be  said  that  they  live 


636  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

without  the  sacraments,  not  being  so  much  as  baptized ;  and  as  for  their 
morals,  I  apprehend  there  is  nothing  to  be  found  in  them  that  should 
tempt  otliers  to  make  an  experiment  of  their  principles,  either  in  religion 
or  in  government.  But  it  must  be  owned,  the  general  behaviour  of  the 
inhabitants  in  those  towns  where  churches  and  meetings  have  been  long 
settled  and  regularly  attended  seems  so  much  better  as  sufficiently  to 
show  the  difference  which  a  solemn  regular  worship  of  God  makes  be- 
tween persons  of  the  same  blood,  temper,  and  natural  faculties.  *  *  * 
The  religion  of  these  people  (negro  slaves),  as  is  natural  to  suppose, 
takes  after  that  of  their  masters.  Some  few  are  baptized;  several  fre- 
quent the  different  assemblies ;  and  far  the  greater  part  none  at  all.  An 
ancient  antipathy  to  the  Indians — whom  it  seems  our  first  planters  * 
*  *  imagined  they  had  a  right  to  treat  on  the  foot  (as  though)  Can- 
aanites  or  Amalekitesi — together  with  an  irrational  contempt  of  the 
blacks,  as  creatures  of  another  species,  who  had  no  right  to  be  instructed 
or  admitted  to  the  sacraments — have  proved  a  main  obstacle  to  the  con- 
version of  these  poor  people. — Bishop  Berkeley,  1732. 

As  to  the  state  of  religion  in  Rhode  Island  Colony,  *  *  *  they 
are  a  very  free  people  in  that  respect.  They  consist  of  Episcopalians, 
Presbyterians,  Anabaptists  and  Quakers,  but  the  Quakers  are  now  the 
most  considerable,  their  present  Governor,  John  Wanton,  Esq.,  being  a 
Quaker,  as  are  also  several  of  the  Council  and  House  of  Representatives ; 
and  as  they  are  principled  for  a  free  ministry  of  the  gospel,  so  conse- 
quently there  is  no  forced  maintenance  in  the  Colony  for  the  ministry  of 
any  persuasion,  but  every  different  society  that  are  for  maintaining  a 
preacher,  do  it  voluntarily  or  by  subscription. — Modern  History,  Moll, 

1739- 

Number  of  actual  communicants  of  the  Church  of  England,  tj  ;  num- 
ber who  profess  to  be  of  the  Church  of  England,  about  200;  number  of 
dissenters  of  all  sorts,  particularly  Papists,  about  8000,  and  much  to  be 
feared  over  half  of  them  infidels.  Some  few  Papists,  who  I  believe  har- 
bour many  others  in  disguise;  number  of  Heathen  and  Infidels,  about  six 
thousand,  and  a  round  number  of  them  Atheists,  as  far  as  wretched  man 
can  be  such ;  number  of  converts  from  a  profane,  disorderly  and  un- 
christian Course  of  Life,  to  a  Life  of  Christian  purity,  meekness  and 
charity.  Two  converts.- — 'Rev.  John  Checkley,  Rector  St.  John's  Church, 
Providence,  Parish  Notes,  1739. 

Providence  and  Warwick. — The  inhabitants  of  these  places  are  the 
descendants  of  those  sectaries  who  were  banished  the  Massachusetts  Jur- 
isdiction. 1630-1640,  *  *  *  but  they  now  live  in  great  amity  with 
their  neighbours,  and  though  every  man  does  what  he  thinks  right  in  his 
own  eyes,  it  is  rare  that  any  notorious  Crimes  are  committed  by  them, 
which  may  be  attributed  in  some  measure  to  their  great  veneration  for 
the  Holy  Scriptures  which  they  read  from  the  least  to  the  greatest  though 
they  have  neither  Ministers  nor  Magistrates  to  recommend  it  to  them. 
They  have  an  aversion  to  all  sorts  of  Taxes,  as  the  Inventions  of  Men  to 
support  Hirelings  as  they  call  such  Ministers  and  Magistrates  who  won't 
serve  them  for  nothing. — Rev.  Daniel  Neal,  History  of  New  England, 
1720. 


RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES  637 

According  to  Callender,  there  were  thirty-three  "distinct  societies 
or  worshipping  assembhes  of  Christians,  besides  several  places  where 
there  are  occasional  meetings'  in  the  Colony,  in  1738.  Eight  of  these  were 
on  the  Island  of  Rhode  Island :  Three  Baptist,  two  Congregational,  two 
Quaker  and  one  Episcoi^al.  In  the  nine  towns  on  the  mainland  there 
were  as  many  meeting  houses  and  Baptist  churches  or  societies.  Of  the 
Quakers,  there  were  eight  meetings  on  the  main  with  one  on  Conanicut 
Island.  Of  Episcopal  churches,  there  was  one  at  Providence,  one  at 
North  Kingstown,  one  at  Westerly  and  one  at  Warwick.  There  were 
three  Congregational  churches,  one  at  Providence,  one  at  South  Kings- 
town and  one  at  Westerly. 


CHAPTER  XXXII 


THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 


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CHAPTER  XXXII. 
THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND. 

The  present  State  of  Rhode  Island  had  its  origin  in  the  union  of  four 
towns, — Providence,  Portsmouth,  Newport  and  Warwick.  Providence 
was  settled  by  Roger  Williams  and  others  in  1636;  Portsmouth  by  Wil- 
liam Coddington  and  associates  in  1638;  Newport  by  William  Codding- 
ton,  John  Qarke  and  others  in  1639.  and  Warwick  by  John  Greene,  Ran- 
dall Holden.  and  others  in  1642.  In  the  year  1643,  the  first  three  towns 
W'ere  united  under  a  charter  given  by  Charles  the  First  and  obtained  by 
Roger  Williams,  under  the  title  of  the  "Incorporation  of  Providence 
Plantations  in  the  Narragansett  Bay  in  New  England."  On  May  12-21, 
[647,  a  government  was  organized  under  this  charter,  at  an  assembly 
styled  The  GeneR(\l  Court  of  Election,  meeting  at  Portsmouth.  War- 
wick, whose  name  was  not  included  in  the  charter,  was  admitted  to  the 
union  with  the  same  privileges  of  the  other  towns.  It  is  recorded  "that 
the  major  parte  of  the  Colonic  was  present  at  this  Assemblie."  At  this 
General  Court  Mr.  John  Coggeshall  of  Newport  was  chosen  "President 
(Governor)  of  the  Province  or  Colonic,"  Roger  Williams,  Assistant  for 
Providence,  John  Sanford  for  Portsmouth,  William  Coddington  for  New- 
port and  Randall  Holden  for  W'arwick.  William  Dyer  was  chosen  Re- 
corder and  Jeremy  Clarke  Treasurer.  The  term  General  Assembly  is 
first  used  in  the  records  of  this  meeting  and  at  this  time  meant  the  annual 
gathering  of  the  freemen  of  the  four  towns  for  the  election  of  general 
officers,  and  was  always  to  be  held  "upon  the  first  Tuesday,  after  the 
15th  of  May,  annually,  if  wind  or  weather  hinder  not,"  to  be  succeeded 
by  "The  General  Court  of  Tryall,"  "upon  the  second  Tuesday  of  June 
next  ensuing,"  at  Newport.  The  Court  of  Trial  had  to  do  with  such 
crimes  as  hazard  life,  limb,  disfranchisement,  or  banishment  and  all  major 
crimes.  The  President  was  supreme  judge  in  this  Colony  court.  With 
him  all  the  assistants  were  to  sit  as  associate  judges.  This  constituted 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  Colony,  meeting  twice  a  year. 

At  this  three  days  session  of  the  General  Assembly,  1647,  the  first 
Code  of  Laws  was  enacted,  covering  58  pages  of  Vol.  I,  Rhode  Island 
Colonial  Records,  pp.  150-208,  inc.  The  first  General  Assembly  of  the 
Colony  was  a  "Democratical"  body,  including  the  major  part  of  the  free- 
men therein. 

The  second  General  Assembly,  meeting  at  Providence,  May,  1648, 
was  a  representative  body  made  up  of  six  men  from  each  of  the  four 

R  1—41 


642  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

towns,  twenty-four  members  in  all.  In  the  "Rules  and  Orders,"  the  As- 
sembly is  also  called  a  "Courte,"  and  the  presiding  officer  is  called  a  "Mod- 
erator." The  last  rule  provided  "that  they  that  whisper  or  disturb  ye 
Court,  or  useth  nipping  terms,  shall  forfeitt  six  pence  for  every  fault." 
The  last  General  Assembly  as  at  first  constituted  under  the  Charter  of 
1643,  was  held  at  Portsmouth,  October  16-26,  1650.  In  that  session,  a 
Representative  Committee  of  six  discreet,  able  men  out  of  each  town  was 
to  be  chosen  "for  transacting  the  affaires  of  the  Commonwealth."  For 
four  years  the  island  and  mainland  towns  had  separate  bodies  in  legisla- 
tion, but  in  1654,  the  four  towns  chose  twenty-four  commissioners,  six 
for  each,  to  act  as  a  "Generall  Court  of  this  Collonie  or  Generall  Assem- 
blie."  From  this  date  until  the  reception  of  the  Charter  at  Newport, 
November,  1663,  the  lawmaking  power  of  the  four  towns  was  styled  "The 
Court  of  Commissioners,"  six  from  each  town.  Benedict  Arnold,  of 
Newport,  was  the  last  President  under  that  regime,  having  been  elected 
May  22,  1663,  at  Providence. 

"At  a  very  great  meeting  and  assembly  of  the  freemen  of  the  Colony 
of  Providence  Plantations,  at  Newport,  etc.,  November  the  24th,  1663," 
the  box  in  which  the  Royal  Charter  of  Charles  the  Second  was  sent,  was 
opened,  and  the  famous  instrument  was  read,  the  broad  seal  "held  up  on 
high"  in  view  of  all  the  people.  The  first  patent  of  1643  o^  Providence 
Plantations  had  ended  its  career  and  in  its  place  was  a  great  charter  which 
established  the  Colonial  name  of  the  Governor  and  Company  of  Rhode 
Island  and  Providence  Plantations  in  Narragansett  Ray  in  New  Eng- 
land, and  a  form  of  Civil  Government  which  continued  in  operation  for 
180  years. 

The  Colonial  officers  were  a  Governor,  a  Deputy  Governor  and  ten 
Assistants.  These  with  sixteen  deputies  elected  by  the  towns  constituted 
the  lawmaking  power,  styled  in  the  charter.  The  General  Assembly. 
Newport  had  six  deputies  elected  by  freemen :  Providence  four ;  Ports- 
mouth four  and  Warwick  four — eighteen  in  all.  The  General  Assembly 
was  to  meet  twice  a  year,  in  May  and  October.  Benedict  Arnold,  of  New- 
port, was  appointed  the  first  Governor  by  the  Qiarter.  He  was  also 
chosen  Speaker  of  the  General  Assembly  at  Newport,  March  i,  1664. 

Two  General  Courts  of  Trial  were  erected  to  be  held  in  May  and 
October,  and  constituted  the  Colonial  Judiciary.  The  Governor  or  the 
Deputy  Governor  and  six  of  the  Assistants  constituted  the  Court,  styled  in 
the  Charter,  The  Court  of  Magistrates.  This  was  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  Colony.  This  term  always  relates  to  the  judicial  functions  of  the 
Upper  House. 

On  the  6th  of  May,  1696,  the  Deputies  voted  to  sit  by  themselves  as 
a  House  of  Deputies,  choosing  their  own  Speaker  and  Clerk,  and  the 


THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY  643 

General  Assembly  thereafter  met  in  two  bodies,  the  Governor,  the  Deputy 
and  the  Assistants  constituting  The  Upper  House,  and  the  representatives 
of  the  towns,  the  House  of  Deputies.    Col.  Rec,  p.  313,  Vol.  HI. 

The  term  Magistrates  was  applied  to  the  Governor,  Deputy  Gover- 
nor and  Assistants,  as  they  constituted  the  magisterial  element  in  the  gov- 
ernment, in  judging  and  administering  the  law — the  judicial  department. 
By  a  fiction  of  terms  the  body  was  often  called  the  House  of  Magistrates, 
Magistrates  or  General  Court  of  Trials. 

The  Deputies,  or  representatives  of  the  body  of  freemen  of  the 
towns,  were  with  the  Magistrates  usually  called  The  General  Assemrly, 
as  the  Colonial  records  show.  In  1672,  it  was  voted  "for  the  keeping  of 
the  Magistrates  and  Deputies  in  love  together,  for  the  ripeninge  of  their 
consultations  and  hiisbandinge  of  their  time,  the  General!  Treasurer  shall 
give  order  and  pay  for  a  convenient  dinner  for  the  Magistrates  and  Dep- 
uties in  General  Assemblies."  As  an  added  encouragement  to  attend  the 
General  Assemblies,  the  Governor  was  paid  six  shillings  a  day,  the  Dep- 
uty five,  the  Magistrates  four  and  the  Deputies  three.  For  non-attend- 
ance, each  officer  was  called  upon  to  pay  a  fine,  double  the  amount  of  the 
pay,  unless  a  satisfactory  reason  was  given.  The  General  Sergeant  (High 
Sheriff)  was  allowed  a  commission  for  services  and  "three  pence  a  mile 
out  and  home  for  this  travill." 

There  exists  in  Massachusetts  an  official  department,  styled  the  Gov- 
ernor and  Council,  a  survival  of  early  Colonial  days  in  that  Common- 
wealth. This  body  is  an  old  English  inheritance,  under  the  title  of  the 
Privy  Council  of  the  Sovereign,  following  the  Curia  Regis  of  the  times 
of  Edward  L  From  1663  to  1705,  this  body  seems  to  be  recognized  in 
Rhode  Island  as  the  equivalent  of  the  Governor  and  Assistants.  In  the 
act  fixing  the  tax  levy  of  the  Colony,  1698,  the  enacting  clause  reads: 
"Be  it  enacted  by  the  Governor,  Council!  and  Representatives  in  this  pres- 
ent sessions  assembled,"  etc..  Col.  Rec.  Vol.  Ill,  p.  348.  The  same  appel- 
lations are  used  on  pages  349,  351,  354,  356,  360,  382,  389,  390,  391.  450, 

459- 

In  the  report  of  the  Earl  of  Bellamont,  on  the  irregularities  in  Rhode 
Island,  November  27,  1699,  it  is  stated :  "Their  General  Assembly  is  con- 
stituted of  the  Governor,  Assistants,  and  Deputies  or  Representatives  for 
the  several  towns ;  the  sole  power  of  calling  them  is  vested  in  the  Gov- 
ernor," etc.  "Their  General  Assembly  assumes  a  judicial  power  of  hear- 
ing, trying  and  determining  civil  cases,"  etc.  "Their  courts  of  justice  are 
held  by  the  Governor  and  Assistants,  who  sit  as  judges  therein,"  etc.  "The 
Assistants  or  Councillors,  who  are  also  Justices  of  the  Peace  and  Judges 
of  their  Courts,  are  generally  Quakers,  and  sectaries,  elected  by  the  pre- 
vailing factions  among  them,"  etc. 


644  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

The  first  record  of  a  meeting  of  the  two  Houses  in  committee,  or 
grand  committee,  was  on  April  30,  1700,  at  a  session  of  the  General  As- 
sembly at  Newport.  A  similar  session  of  the  "both  Houses  resolved  into 
one,"  was  held  under  date  of  May  i,  1700.  At  a  session  of  the  General 
Assembly  at  Newport,  Febniary  27,  1712,  an  act  constituting  the  General 
Assembly  a  Court  of  Chancery  was  repealed  and  a  regular  Court  of  Chan- 
cery was  established  in  accordance  with  methods  and  precedents  in  Great 
Britain. 

From  this  date,  1726,  to  the  last  Colonial  General  Assembly  meeting 
in  the  State  House  at  Providence,  May,  1776,  its  duties  were  purely 
legislative.  The  Assembly  was  made  up  of  two  Houses,— the  Upper 
House,  consisting  of  the  Governor,  the  Lieutenant-Governor  and  ten  As- 
sistants, and  the  Lower  House  or  House  of  Deputies,  of  64  members  in 
all,  representing  and  elected  by  the  28  towns. 

In  1766,  an  act  was  passed  regulating  the  sessions  of  the  General 
Assembly.  By  it  the  Governor,  Deputy  Governor  and  Assistants  were  "to 
set  apart  from  the  Deputies  from  the  several  towns  and  debate  and  vote 
in  all  public  affairs  of  the  Colony  and  shall  be  called  the  Upper  House. 
And  that  the  Deputies  of  the  several  towns  shall  also  sit,  debate  and  vote 
in  all  public  affairs,  during  each  session,  by  themselves,  and  shall  be  called 
the  Lower  House."  The  Lower  House  was  to  elect  its  own  speaker  and 
clerk.  It  was  provided  "that  when  the  Upper  and  Lower  Houses  of 
Assembly"  shall  see  cause  "they  may  meet  in  a  Grand  Committee  and 
sit  and  vote  together." 

The  historic  act,  declaring  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantations 
a  free  and  independent  State  was  passed  in  the  old  State  House  in  the 
Senate  chamber,  then  the  Hall  of  Deputies,  with  only  six  dissenting  votes, 
and  in  the  Upper  House  unanimously,  whose  hall  was  on  the  same  floor 
on  the  south  side  of  the  edifice. 

Letter  of  Goz'.  Nicholas  Cooke  to  Thomas  dishing,  of  Watertoum,  Mass. 

The  enclosed  act  passed  the  Upper  House  unanimously,  and  the 
Lower  House  by  a  vast  majority;  there  being  upwards  of  sixty  members 
present,  and  only  six  votes  against  it. 

Providence,  May  6,  1776. 

Letter  of  Gov.  Nicholas  Cooke  to  General  Washington. 
I  enclose  a  copy  of  an  act  discharging  the  inhabitants  of  this  Colony 
from  allegiance  to  the  King  of  Great  Britain,  which  was  carried  in  the 
House  of  Deputies,  after  a  debate,  with  but  six  dissentient  voices ;  there 
being  upwards  of  sixty  members  present. 

An  Act. 
At  a  session  of  the  General  Assembly  held  at  Newport,  2nd  Monday, 
June,  1776  (June  10),  an  act  empowering  the  members  of  the  Upper  and 
Lower  Houses  of  Assembly,  to  tender  to  such  of  the  inhabitants  as  are 
hereinafter  mentioned,  a  declaration,  or  test,  for  subscription. 


THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY  645 

On  the  4th  of  July,  1776,  a  public  Declaration  of  Independence  was 
made  at  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania,  by  the  representatives  of  the  Thirteen 
Colonies,  assembled  in  the  Continental  Congress.  On  July  18,  1776,  the 
General  Assembly  of  Rhode  Island  meeting  at  Newport  voted,  that  "this 
Assembly,  taking  into  the  most  serious  consideration  the  resolutions  of 
the  Most  Honorable,  the  Continental  Congress  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  of  the  4th  instant,  declaring  the  said  states  free  and  independent 
states,  do  approve  the  same  said  resolution ;  and  do  most  solemnly  engage 
that  we  will  support  the  said  General  Congress  with  our  lives  and  for- 
tunes." Public  declaration  of  the  Philadelphia  resolution  and  of  the  action 
of  the  Assembly  was  proclaimed  at  Newport,  the  following  day,  July  19. 

As  a  summary  of  the  above  study  it  may  be  stated  in  brief  that  the 
evolution  of  the  two  Houses,  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
has  been  as  follows  : 

1.  All  legislation  at  first  took  ])lace  in  open  meeting  of  all  the  free- 
men of  the  Colony,  called  the  General  Assembly. 

2.  A  representative  body  was  constituted,  including  the  Governor, 
the  Deputy  Governor,  ten  Assistants,  and  deputies  of  the  several  towns. 
This  body  was  first  called  the  "Court  of  Elections,"  later  the  General 
Assembly. 

3.  In  1696,  the  Deputies  voted  to  form  a  House  by  themselves.  The 
body  was  called  the  House  of  Deputies  or  Lower  House. 

4.  The  two  chief  state  officers  and  assistants  were  styled  Governor 
and  Council,  and  later  the  Upper  House  until  1799,  when  the  title  As- 
sistant was  changed  to  Senator,  and  the  Upper  House  was  called  the 
Senate,  the  Governor  or  Lieutenant  Governor  presiding.  Henry  Ward, 
Secretary  of  Colony  and  State  from  1760  until  his  death  in  1797,  always 
used  the  title  "Upper  House"  as  ajiplied  to  what  is  now  the  State  Sen- 
ate. Since  1800  or  thereabouts,  the  two  branches  of  the  General  As- 
sembly have  been  styled  the  Senate  and  the  House  of  Representatives. 

Prior  to  1698,  the  General  Assembly  had  met  in  the  large  rooms  of 
taverns  or  private  houses  in  the  towns  where  its  sessions  were  held.  In 
December  of  that  year,  a  tax  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  pounds  was 
ordered  for  building  a  court  house  in  Newport  and  one  in  Rochester 
(now  Kingston).  In  February,  1729-30,  the  location  of  a  court  house 
in  Providence  was  left  to  the  determination  of  the  town's  people,  in  town 
meeting.  That  at  Kingston  was  to  be  set  upon  the  hill  near  Robert  Case's 
dwelling  house.  In  1691,  the  Assembly  ordered  an  addition  to  be  made 
to  the  court  house,  also  a  turret,  whi^re  the  bell  might  be  hung.  In  i/2i}, 
the  Colony  was  divided  into  three  counties  and  the  judicial  system  was 
revised  accordingly,  with  a  court  house  and  jail  in  each  county.  In  1733, 
the  General  Assembly  met  for  the  first  time  in  tire  new  court  house  at 


646  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

Kingston  Hill.  In  17318-39,  a  new  court  house  was  ordered  for  Newport 
county.  In  1750,  Kent  county  was  set  off  from  Providence  county,  with 
East  Greenwich  as  the  shire  town,  and  the  people  were  required  to  build 
their  own  court  house,  which  they  did  in  1753.  In  that  year  a  new  court 
house  and  jail  was  built  at  Kingston  and  a  new  jail  at  Providence.  In 
1766,  an  appropriation  was  made  to  build  a  new  court  house  in  Bristol  on 
the  site  of  the  old  one.  On  December  24,  1758,  the  court  house  at  Provi- 
dence was  destroyed  by  fire,  and  with  it  a  collection  of  books  of  the 
Providence  Library  Company.  A  lottery  was  granted  to  raise  two  thou- 
sand dollars  for  a  new  court  house  and  library.  The  new  court  house  at 
Providence  and  East  Greenwich  were  ordered  to  be  completed  in  1776. 
The  court  houses  in  the  five  counties  were  the  meeting  places  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  in  its  peripatetic  journeys  about  the  Colony,  as  well  as  the 
seats  of  the  county  and  Colony  courts. 

At  Providence  the  lower  story  of  the  new  court  house,  now  known 
as  the  "Old  State  House,"  was  a  hall  used  by  the  town  of  Providence  for 
town  meetings  and  other  local  needs  until  the  purchase  of  the  meeting 
house  on  College  street  and  its  conversion  into  a  Town  House  in  1795. 

The  General  Assembly  and  the  Courts  held  their  sessions  on  the 
second  floor,  now  occupied  in  part  by  the  Sixth  District  Court.  Daniel 
Jenckes  and  William  Wheaton  were  the  committee  "to  lay  the  floor,  build 
the  stairs  and  complete  two  rooms  in  the  chamber,  suitable  for  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  to  sit  in,"  for  which  two  thousand  pounds,  old  tenor,  were 
set  apart.  In  1843,  Judge  Staples  wrote  that  "the  Legislature  and  the 
Courts  still  hold  their  sessions  in  the  upper  story,"  that  story  having  been 
fitted  up  anew  and  rendered  more  convenient  and  showy  than  formerly. 
At  the  same  date  the  Secretary  of  State  and  the  clerks  of  the  courts  occu- 
pied the  lower  story. 

The  Upper  House  of  the  General  Assembly  met  in  the  chamber  on 
the  southern  side  of  the  second  floor  of  the  "Old  State  House,"  and  the 
"Lower  House"  met  in  the  chamber  on  the  north  side,  the  room  now  occu- 
pied by  the  civil  session  of  the  Sixth  District  Court,  Judge  Reuckert.  It 
was  in  this  room,  on  the  second  floor,  that  Jonathan  Arnold  presented  the 
bill  to  the  Lower  House  for  separation  of  the  Colony  from  Great  Britain 
and  where  it  passed,  on  May  4,  1776.  The  tablet  placed  on  the  east  wall 
of  the  room  of  the  criminal  session  of  the  Sixth  District  Court  (Judge 
Gorham)  is  manifestly  out  of  place  and  should  be  transferred  to  the 
wall  of  the  north  chamber  on  the  next  floor  above.  When  it  is  removed 
the  errors  in  the  names  of  the  two  houses  of  the  General  Assembly  should 
be  corrected  to  "Upper  House"  and  "Lower  House." 

At  the  autumn  session  of  the  General  Assembly,  1850,  held  at  East 
Greenwich,  $7,800  were  set  aside  to  "altering  and  enlarging  the  State 


THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY  647 

House  at  Providence  to  afford  proper  accommodations  for  the  General 
Assembly,  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State  and  the  Courts,  *  *  * 
the  first  floor  to  be  fitted  up  as  a  Representative  Hall,  with  two  committee 
or  jury  rooms  at  the  north  end,  the  present  hall  (Representatives)  to  be 
fitted  for  the  Senate,  and  the  present  Senate  chamber  and  lobby  to  be  used 
for  the  Secretary  of  State's  office  and  committee  rooms,  the  entrance  and 
stairs  to  be  in  an  addition  on  the  west  front."  Tire  renovated  State  House 
was  occupied  by  the  General  Assembly  in  185 1.  The  present  fence  was 
built  around  the  grounds  on  the  west  front,  in  1851.  at  a  cost  of  $2,000. 

The  present  State  House,  on  Capitol  Hill,  was  built  at  a  cost  of 
$3,018,416.33  by  Norcross  Brothers  of  Worcester,  Massachusetts,  under 
the  supervision  of  McKim,  Mead  and  White  of  New  York,  architects. 
Ground  was  broken  September  16,  1895;  ^^e  cornerstone  laid  October 
15,  1896,  the  edifice  was  occupied  by  the  Secretary  of  State  December, 
1900,  and  by  the  General  Assembly  and  State  officers  January  i,  1901. 

The  most  significant  inscription  adorns  the  entablature  of  the  south 
front:  "To  hold  forth  a  lively  experiment  th.\t  a  most  flourishing 

CIVIL  ST.\TE  MAY  STAND  AND  BEST  BE  MAINTAINED  WITH  FULL  LIBERTY  IN 
RELIGIOUS  CONCERNMENTS." 

The  author  was  Eh-.  John  Qarke,  the  sentiment  is  a  quotation  from 
the  RoYAL  Charter  of  1663,  of  which  Dr.  John  Clarke  was  the  author. 

The  first  inscription  on  the  north  front  should  bear  date  of  1638,  in- 
stead of  1636.  The  second  statement  is  in  error  in  stating  "Incorpor- 
ated BY  Parliament,  1643."  The  document  was  a  Patent  signed  by 
eleven  commissioners  of  a  body  of  eighteen,  under  Robert,  Earl  of  War- 
wick. Governor  in  Chief  and  Lord  High  .Admiral.  The  title  of  the  Patent 
was  "Providence  Plantatio.ns  in  Narragansett  Bay  in  New  Eng- 
land." 

Around  the  interior  of  the  dome  is  a  quotation  in  Latin  from  Tacitus, 
the  English  of  which  is  "Rare  felicity  of  our  day,  when  it  is  granted 
YOU  to  thi.nk  as  you  please  and  to  declare  what  you  think;" — an 
excellent  motto  for  legislators  and  people. 

In  November,  1900,  the  Constitution  was  amended  in  favor  of  one 
session  of  the  General  Assembly  each  year,  to  commence  at  Providence 
on  the  first  Tuesday  in  January  of  each  year.  On  November  7,  1911,  the 
Constitution  was  amended,  establishing  biennial  elections  for  State  officers 
and  members  of  the  General  Assembly.  The  veto  power  is  now  vested 
in  the  Governor,  and  the  Lieutenant  Governor  is  president  of  the  Senate, 
ex-officio. 

The  Rhode  Island  Manual,  published  biennially  contains  the  Charter 
of  1663,  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  and  of  Rhode  Island,  and 
a  fund  of  information  of  great  value  to  the  citizens  of  Rhode  Island. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 


EDUCATION 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 
EDUCATION. 

The  discoverer  of  the  principle  of  the  free  common  school  for  all 
classes  and  both  sexes  of  children  is  now  unknown.  Some  claim  him  to 
have  been  a  Greek  who  lived  in  the  pre-Christian  time.  Others  ascribe 
the  honor  to  England,  while  others  still  make  strong  claim  for  German, 
French,  and  even  Roman  origin.  Whatever  the  views  of  theorists  and 
students  may  be,  certain  it  is  that  the  free  common  school  idea  of  New 
England  had  birth  on  our  own  soil,  and  that  all  prior  attempts  were  but 
embryonic  developments  in  preparation  for  the  fullfiedged  offspring  of 
our  original  democratic  institutions.  In  its  final  analysis,  the  free  school 
is  an  institution  established  and  supported  by  a  general  tax  of  the  State,  in 
which  every  child,  without  distinction  of  race,  sex,  color,  property  or  any 
other  condition,  may  obtain  a  common  school  education,  without  a  special 
tax  on  the  parents  or  guardians  for  the  care  and  tuition  of  such  child. 

The  Pilgrim  and  Puritan  settlers  of  New  England  came  from  the 
most  intelligent  population  then  known  to  the  world.  England  had  its 
ancient  endowed  schools  for  the  better  classes,  and  the  educational  stand- 
ards were  of  the  highest  order  extant.  The  schools  and  the  universities 
of  England  were  the  sources  of  her  power  and  her  supremacy  in  the 
seventeenth  century,  and  the  awakening  of  discovery,  the  arts,  science  and 
religion,  was  due  to  a  revival  of  learning  as  its  chief  stimulus.  The  Anglo- 
Saxon  mind  is  as  fond  of  knowledge  as  it  is  of  material  power.  One  is 
the  condition  of  the  other,  as  well  as  its  hand-maid.  Given  knowledge  and 
power  must  follow.  Given  power,  and  its  continued  possession  rests  on 
knowledge.  The  early  settlers  came  to  America  out  of  the  restless  social 
and  political  life  of  England  in  the  year  1620.  Few  of  the  first  comers 
were  educated  people,  though  all  could  read  and  write,  and  though  their 
chirography  was  not  of  the  most  elegant  style,  yet  to  the  compact  in  the 
"Mayflower,"  not  one  person  made  his  mark.  All  could  read  the  Piible 
and  write  legibly.  It  was  the  English  instinct  and  intuition  that  suggested, 
that  in  a  new  land,  free  from  old  traditions,  the  people  should  all  be  intelli- 
gent in  some  large  measure,  in  order  that  the  equality  of  the  social  status 
and  order  should  be  preserved.  They  did  not  care  to  establish  the  English 
feudal  system  on  New  England  soil.  The  evils  of  an  hereditary  system  of 
rank  and  wealth  were  too  apparent  to  be  repeated  here.  They  had  suffered 
too  much  from  kings,  lords,  and  nobles  to  desire  to  build  up  an  aristocracy 
of  any  sort  except  it  were  an  aristocracy  of  intelligence  and  virtue.  Tlie 
most  reasonable  desire  of  their  hearts  then  was  that  their  children  should 
have  a  common  heritage  of  knowledge,  although  their  worldly  possessions 


652  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

were  small.  The  satisfaction  of  learning  would  compensate  for  the  loss 
of  the  comforts  and  blessings  of  the  homeland,  as  well  as  for  the  priva- 
tions and  toils  of  their  adopted  country.  Out  of  such  conditions  and 
thoughts  sprang  the  common  school  idea  of  the  families  of  this  American 
State. 

When  we  remember  that  in  English  towns  there  were  no  free  schools 
and  that  reading  and  writing  were  accomplishments,  obtained  only  at  pri- 
vate expense,  we  can  readily  forgive  the  men  and  women,  the  founders  of 
towns,  who  made  their  marks  in  their  signatures  to  public  documents  and 
we  may  esteem  those  who  gave  us  their  autographs  in  almost  unintelligi- 
ble form,  the  privileged  ones  in  English  social  life.  It  is  evident  from 
all  we  can  gather  that  the  first  settlers  were  most  anxious  to  give  their 
children  the  rudiments  of  an  education, — that  they  should  be  able  to  read, 
write,  spell  and  cipher — the  three  R's  as  they  were  called.  Undoubtedly 
the  religious  motive  inspired  this  desire  in  order  that  the  young  should  be 
able  to  read  the  Bible — ^the  one  Book  of  great  value  to  Puritan  and  Pil- 
grim. The  old  Church  of  Eiigland  was  satisfied  to  have  the  priest  read 
and  expound  the  God's  Book.  The  new  church  of  the  people  exalted  pri- 
vate judgment  and  personal  acquaintance  with  and  judgment  on  the 
Divine  oracles.  As  the  serious  concern  for  the  soul  lay  deep  in  the  heart 
and  thought  of  the  founders,  it  was  the  most  reasonable  thing  to  expect 
them  to  procure  for  their  children  the  key  of  knowledge  to  open  the  way 
to  spiritual  truth  and  life,  and  that  tlie  Testament  and  the  shorter  cate- 
chism should  be  the  text-books  of  little  children. 

Whence  came  the  idea  of  the  free  school?  It  is  not  traceable,  but 
probably  sprang  out  of  the  inner  consciousness  of  the  freedom  of  religious 
individualism,  coupled  with  the  new  freedom  of  democracy.  Transplant 
a  people  from  a  land  of  hard  restraints  on  their  civil  and  religious  life  to 
a  wilderness  land  of  unfettered  liberty  and  they  soon  learn  the  lessons  of 
a  free  state,  a  free  church,  a  free  press,  free  schools — the  full  heritage  of 
freemen.  Never  mind  how  or  by  whom  the  free  school  came.  It  was 
the  voice  of  the  people  that  called  it  into  being  and  in  answer  to  that  call 
it  assumed  form  and  comeliness,  but  not  at  once.  The  new  comers  to  a 
new  wilderness  land,  surrounded  by  savage  beasts  and  men,  must  first 
level  forests,  build  log  houses,  plant  fields,  provide  food  and  clothing,  build 
defences,  and  attend  to  the  numberless  details  that  the  maintenance  of 
family  and  civil  life  absolutely  demanded.  The  first  necessity  outside  the 
cabin  and  the  fort  was  the  meeting  house  for  praise,  prayer  and  preaching. 
The  school  must  wait  a  bit  and  in  some  towns  and  colonies  the  school  must 
enlist  the  favor  of  the  gods  in  the  supply  of  money,  corn  or  cattle  for  its 
support.    It  might  come  late,  but  it  was  sure  to  come — some  time. 

In  Rhode  Island  the  quality  of  the  settlers  and  their  financial  ability 
were  the  occasion  of  widely  different  action  as  to  both  secular  and  reli- 


EDUCATION  653 

gious  education  of  chiklren  and  youth.  The  founders  of  Aquidneck  were 
possessed  of  good  estates  and  considerable  wealth  in  money.  In  addition 
to  their  comparative  good  fortune,  most  of  the  adult  population  were  edu- 
cated beyond  the  average  Englishmen  of  their  day.  Most  of  the  men 
were  successful  merchants  and  men  of  affairs  in  Boston,  having  had  large 
experience  in  matters  of  town  and  Colony  government  and  sat  in  council 
with  Winthrop,  Endicott,  Saltonstall  and  Vane  in  affairs  temporal  and 
spiritual.  If  good  penmanship  be  taken  as  proof  of  education,  the  auto- 
graphs of  the  signers  of  the  Portsmouth  compact  entitled  their  authors  to 
an  equal  place  with  the  graduates  of  Brown  University.  Of  the  twenty- 
three  signers  only  one  made  his  mark,  and  he  was  one  of  the  wealthiest, 
most  intelligent  and  most  influential  of  the  group — Henry  Bull,  later  Gov- 
ernor of  the  Colony. 

It  was  at  Newport,  the  centre  of  wealth,  intelligence  and  culture  in 
Southern  New  England,  that  a  schcxil  was  first  established  in  1640.  It 
might  be  urged  that  the  Colonial  policy  to  adopt  education  as  a  function 
of  the  State  grew  out  of  the  older  English  policy  of  a  state-church,  but  this 
could  not  be  true  on  .Aquidneck,  for  at  no  period  did  the  island  settlers 
favor  or  support  a  state-church,  as  did  Plymouth  and  the  Bay  Colonies. 
The  idea  was  original  with  Clarke  and  Coddington,  and  to  the  Newport 
people  must  be  accorded  the  high  honor  of  leading  this  section  of  New 
England  in  free  education.  The  records  of  the  General  Court  of  the 
Island,  under  date  of  Augu.st  6,  1640,  .state  that  Mr.  Robert  Lenthal,  a 
clergyman,  was  made  a  freeman.  Lenthal,  it  .seems,  had  been  under  the 
discipline  of  the  Bay  Colony  for  conduct  at  Weymouth  and  had  been  in- 
vited to  come  to  Newport  to  conduct  jniblic  worship  in  place  of  Dr.  John 
Clarke,  and  on  .\ugust  20,  1640.  by  vote  of  the  town  of  Newport,  Mr. 
Lenthal  was  "called  to  keep  a  public  school  for  the  learning  of  youth  and 
for  his  encouragement  there  was  granted  to  him  and  his  heirs  one  hun- 
dred acres  of  land  and  four  more  for  a  house  lot."  It  was  also  voted  "that 
one  hundred  acres  should  be  laid  forth  and  appropriated  for  a  school,  for 
encouragement  of  the  poorer  sort,  to  train  up  their  youth  in  learning, 
and  Mr.  Robert  Lenthal,  w-hile  he  continues  to  teach  school,  is  to  have  the 
benefit  thereof."  Master  Lenthal  left  New-port  for  England  in  1642,  but 
the  school  was  continued  to  the  credit  of  the  founders  of  Newport.  Rich- 
man  says  "the  provision  for  education  so  early  made  at  Newport  serves 
once  more  to  emphasize  the  higher  plane,  in  respect  to  caste  and  culture, 
occupied  by  the  Island  settlers  as  compared  with  the  settlers  at  Provi- 
dence." At  Providence  a  reservation  of  one  hundred  acres  of  upland  and 
six  acres  of  meadow  was  made  for  the  maintenance  of  a  school  in  1663, 
May  9,  but  it  was  of  no  value  for  school  uses  for  twenty  years  or  more. 
In  1684  Mr.  William  Turpin,  of  Providence,  covenanted  with  William  and 
Lydia  Hawkins  to  furnish  one  pupil  with  lx)ard  and  schooling,  for  one 


6S4  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

year,  for  six  pounds  sterling;  forty  shillings  of  which  was  to  be  in  beef 
and  pork — pork  at  two  pence  and  beef  at  three  pence  half  penny  per  pound ; 
twenty  shillings  in  corn  at  two  shillings  a  bushel  and  the  balance  in  silver 
money.  The  boy  was  to  be  taught  in  reading  and  writing,  and  if  he  be- 
came as  expert  a  penman  as  schoolmaster  Turpin,  he  obtained  a  year's 
board  and  schooling  at  an  amazingly  small  cost.  In  1685  Master  Turpin 
asked  the  town  of  Providence  to  set  apart  the  school  land  for  the  use  and 
benefit  of  the  schoolmaster,  "that  the  said  master  (Turpin)  or  his  heirs 
may  be  invested  in  the  land  so  long  as  he  or  any  of  them  (his  heirs)  shall 
maintain  the  worthy  art  of  learning."  How  long  Master  Turpin  main- 
tained "that  worthy  art  of  learning"  is  not  shown.  It  is  of  record  that 
William  Turpin,  William  Hawkins,  John  Dexter  and  others  petitioned  the 
town  of  Providence  for  a  lot  of  land  on  Stamper's  Hill,  on  which  to  build 
a  school  house.  The  land,  40  feet  square,  was  granted,  the  house  built  and 
used  for  a  private  school.  This  is  the  first  school  house  of  record  in 
Providence,  and  Turpin  the  first  schoolmaster.  It  is  probable  that  Turpin 
opened  a  tavern  on  the  Main  street  in  1687,  for  on  December  14  of  that 
year,  not  appearing  to  take  a  license,  he  was  suspended  from  keeping  a 
victualling  house  or  selling  strong  liquors.    He  died  1709. 

In  1735  George  Taylor  was  granted  leave  to  teach  a  private  school  in 
the  chamber  of  the  county  court  house  on  North  Main  street,  in  Provi- 
dence.   He  was  the  second  schoolmaster  of  record  in  the  town. 

On  the  division  of  the  warehouse  lots,  on  the  west  side  of  North 
Main  street.  Providence,  a  lot  was  set  apart  for  a  school  house,  opposite 
the  west  end  of  the  court  house  parade.  At  some  time  before  1752  a  house 
had  been  built  on  this  lot,  for,  in  that  year,  Nicholas  Cooke,  Joseph  Olney, 
Esek  Hopkins,  Elisha  Brown  and  John  Mawney  were  chosen  "to  have  the 
care  of  the  town  school  house,  and  to  app>oint  a  master  to  teach  in  said 
house."  The  next  year  the  school  house  was  leased  to  Stephen  Jackson, 
schoolmaster,  for  three  months  from  March  i.  Again,  in  1763,  the 'town 
clerk  was  directed  to  lease  the  house,  the  schoolmaster  receiving  all  his 
compensation  from  his  pupils  and  paying  to  the  town  a  fixed  rental  for 
the  room. 

In  1 75 1  leading  citizens  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  at  Providence, 
had  permission  to  build  a  school  house,  on  vacant  land  on  Broad  street, 
at  private  cost. 

After  the  burning  of  the  county  court  house  on  North  Main  street, 
in  1758,  the  town  of  Providence  wished  to  exchange  the  school  house  lot 
for  a  part  of  the  court  house  lot.  In  1765  the  school  lot  and  house  were 
sold  and  a  part  of  the  court  house  lot  bought  by  the  town  for  school  uses. 

It  was  in  the  sixties  of  this  century  that  the  public  school  idea  began 
to  find  expression  at  Providence.  Three  conditions  had  prevented  its 
action  in  Northern  Rhode  Island — the  separation  of  the  people,  their  nar- 


EDUCATION  655 

row  financial  ability,  and  the  low  standard  of  literacy  among  the  farmer 
and  industrial  classes.  The  educational  demands  were  very  small,  even 
those  who  taught  the  private  schools  having  only  the  simplest  rudiments 
of  the  studies  they  were  expected  to  teach,  llie  new  order  and  ideal  began 
at  Providence,  where  the  merchant  class  had  begun  to  accumulate  wealth 
and  the  free  school  plan  came  under  discussion  by  the  leading  citizens. 
Among  those  wIk)  took  the  lead  in  advocacy  of  public  schools  should  be 
named,  Nicholas  Cooke,  John  Mawney,  Esek  and  Stephen  Hopkins, 
Moses  Brown,  Nicholas  Brown,  Elisha  Brown,  Elijah  Tillinghast,  Daniel 
Abbott,  Jabez  Bowen,  Darius  Sessions,  Samuel  Nightingale,  John  Jencks, 
Nathaniel  Greene,  Samuel  Thurber,  Thomas  Angell,  Gideon  Comstock, 
James  Field,  Barzillai  Richmond,  Nehemiah  Sprague,  Joseph  Olney  and 
others,  leading  citizens  of  wealth  and  intelligence. 

On  December  8,  1767,  the  town  of  Providence  in  town  meeting  voted 
to  build  three  school  houses  for  small  children  and  one  for  youth,  to  pro- 
vide instructors  and  pay  the  bills  from  the  town  treasury,  the  schools  to  be 
under  the  supervision  of  a  school  committee.  This  was  the  first  act  of 
the  town  of  Providence  to  establish  free  schools,  supported  by  a  tax  on 
all  the  property  of  the  people.  The  preamble  of  a  report  written  by  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor Jabez  Bowen.  addressed  to  the  voters  of  Providence,  ex- 
presses the  rising  sentiment  of  the  progressive  class:  "The  education  of 
youth,  being  a  thing  of  the  first  importance  to  every  society,  as  thereby  the 
minds  of  the  rising  generation  are  formed  to  virtue,  knowledge  and  useful 
literature,  and  a  succession  of  able  and  useful  men  are  produced,  with  suit- 
able qualifications  for  serving  their  country  with  ability  and  faithfulness; 
and,  institutions  of  this  nature  are  the  more  useful  by  how  much  the  more 
liberal  and  free  the  enjoyment  of  them  is." 

The  report  recommended  to  the  freemen  of  Providence  the  building 
of  four  school  houses  in  the  compact  part  of  the  town ;  that  the  schools 
shall  be  furnished  with  masters  at  the  expense  of  the  town ;  that  a  school 
committee  be  chosen  annually  to  have  control  of  all  affairs  of  the  schools ; 
that  ever)-  inhabitant  of  the  town  shall  have  and  enjoy  an  equal  right  and 
privilege  of  sending  their  own  children  and  the  children  of  any  others 
under  their  care  for  instruction  and  bringing  up  to  any  or  all  of  said 
schools,  and  that  each  and  every  scholar,  before  admission  shall  have 
learned  his  letters  and  acquired  some  acquaintance  with  spelling ;  that  not 
over  two  hours  be  taken  up,  daily,  in  perfecting  the  scholars  in  reading, 
accenting,  pronouncing  and  properly  understanding  the  English  tongue; 
that  the  other  school  hours  shall  be  employed  in  teaching  the  children  and 
youth  in  writing,  arithmetic,  the  various  branches  of  mathematics,  and 
the  learned  languages ;  that  the  masters  in  the  school  should  not  engage  in 
any  other  business  that  might  "impede  the  due  instruction  of  youth  under 
their  care"  and  that  they  keep  a  strict,  but  not  passionate  and  severe  disci- 


656  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

pline ;  for  raising  a  laudable  emulation  for  exxellence  in  the  various 
branches  of  learning,  the  masters  were  allowed  to  confer  honorary  marks 
of  favor  and  distinction ;  children  of  non-residents  were  to  be  admitted  by 
the  payment  of  twelve  shillings  to  the  school  tax  annually. 

These  were  a  part  of  the  liberal  provisions  of  a  free  school  proposal 
submitted  to  the  freeholders  of  the  town  of  Providence,  January  i,  1768, 
and,  strange  to  say,  the  whole  plan  was  rejected  by  the  voters.  The  report 
of  the  committee  of  able  and  public-spirited  men  was  tabled  and  the  free- 
men voted,  instead,  to  build  "one  brick  school  house,  thirty  feet  by  forty, 
and  two  stories  high,  near  the  court  house,  out  of  the  proceeds  of  the  old 
school  house  lot,  sold  in  1765,  and  a  tax  of  one  hundred  pounds,  provided 
the  sum  of  £182.17  should  be  raised  by  private  subscription  for  the  same 
object."  The  school  house  was  built;  the  town  of  Providence  owned  the 
ground  floor — proprietors  the  second  story.  The  town  opened  a  school 
below  and  the  proprietors  above,  and  two  schools  were  thus  established 
and  continued  in  the  town  until  near  the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
to  the  great  discredit  of  the  town  and  the  extreme  mortification  of  the  best 
people.  The  divisive,  parsimonious,  anti-educative  spirit  of  old  Provi- 
dence held  sway  for  more  than  a  century  and  a  half  from  the  founding  of 
the  town,  fully  justifying  Mr.  Richman's  declaration :  "By  Providence 
was  symbolized  individualism,  both  religious  and  political,  a  force  centri- 
fugal, disjunctive  and  even  disruptive."  Staples  tells  us  that  on  the  west 
side  of  the  river,  at  the  time  of  the  free  school  agitation  in  Providence, 
there  were  one  hundred  and  two  houses,  nine  hundred  and  eleven  inhabi- 
tants, including  one  hundred  and  eight-nine  fit  for  schooling,  between 
the  ages  of  five  and  fourteen. 

Moses  Brown,  the  venerable  historic  philosopher,  in  his  Quaker  hon- 
esty appends  the  following  note  to  the  manuscript  report  of  Governor 
Bowen:  "1768,  Laid  before  the  town  by  the  Committee,  but  a  number  of 
the  inhabitants  (and  what  is  most  surprising  and  remarkable,  the  plan  of  a 
Free  School,  supported  by  a  tax  was  rejected  by  the  Poorer  Sort  of  the 
people)  being  strangely  led  away  not  to  see  their  own  as  well  as  the  pub- 
lic interest  therein  (by  a  few  objectors  at  first)  either  because  they  were 
not  the  projectors,  or  had  not  public  spirit  to  execute  so  laudable  a  design, 
and  which  was  first  voted  by  the  town  with  great  freedom."  The  old 
brick  school  house  of  1768  still  stands  on  Meeting  street.  Providence, 
near  the  old  State  house  and  the  Quaker  meeting  house  as  a  monument  of 
the  divided  and  misguided  public  opinion  of  the  town  of  Providence  in 
the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century.  It  is  the  oldest  school  house  in  the 
State  and  has  been  in  constant  use  for  one  hundred  and  fifty  years.  At 
one  period  it  was  the  only  school  for  negro  children  on  the  east  side  of  the 
river. 

The  free  school  established  at  Newport  in  1640,  under  Master  Rob- 


EDUCATION  657 

ert  Lenthal,  was,  so  far  as  public  records  may  l)e  trusted,  the  first  of  its 
class  in  New  England  and  possibly  in  the  world.  The  only  claimant  for 
the  honor  that  can  support  a  worthy  arjjument  is  Boston,  in  the  Bay 
Colony.  So  far  as  our  studies  extend,  the  Boston  free  school  was  not 
wholly  free,  while  that  at  Newport  required  no  fee  of  the  pupils.  As  the 
school  began  it  continued.  Mr.  Arnold  states  that  in  1710  "schools  and 
highways  received  much  attention.  The  jjublic  school  was  placed  in  charge 
of  the  town  council,  and  a  place  was  provided  for  Mr.  Galloway  to  open  a 
Latin  school." 

In  1716  the  freemen  of  rortsmouth,  in  disposing  of  vacant  lands  in 
the  south  part  of  that  town,  "having  considered  how  excellent  an  ornament 
learning  is  to  mankind,  and  the  great  necessity  there  is  in  building  of  a  pub- 
lic school  house  on  said  south  side,"  made  an  appro]iriation  for  a  school 
house  and  chose  a  committee  to  build  it.  Tliis  record  implies  that  a  public 
school  had  l)een  established  in  the  north  part  of  the  town,  the  seat  and 
centre  of  the  first  settlement  of  1638. 

The  golden  age  of  education  in  Newjiort  began  with  the  coming  of 
George  Berkeley,  dean  of  Derry  and  bishop  of  Cloyne,  in  January,  1730. 

Poi)e  has  accorded.  "To  Berkeley,  every  virtue  under  1  leaven."  .'Xnd 
he  certainly  fulfilled  a  great  mission  of  e<lucation,  philanthropy  and  re- 
ligion during  his  brief  stay  on  Aquidneck.  His  reputation  as  a  writer  and 
philosopher  was  world-wide.  He  early  became  interested  in  the  conver- 
sion of  the  savages  of  North  America  to  Christianity  and,  coming  into 
large  wealth,  he  planned  to  erect  a  college  in  the  Bermudas  for  the  educa- 
tion of  Indian  youth.  The  Queen  offered  him  a  bishoi)ric,  which  he  de- 
clined, saying  he  would  rather  be  the  master  of  St.  Paul's  College  at  Ber- 
muda than  the  primate  of  all  England.  With  the  success  of  his  Catholic 
Christian  plan  in  prospect  he  wrote  the  celebrated  ode,  "Westward  the 
Course  of  Empire  takes  its  way."  A  corps  of  artists  and  literary  men 
accompanied  Berkeley  to  Newport,  among  whom  was  the  eminent  painter, 
Smibert,  who  became  the  teacher  of  Copley  and  West,  and  through  an- 
other pupil,  of  Stuart.  Berkeley  built  a  home  called  Whitehall,  where  he 
wrote  Alciphron,  printed  in  Newport  by  the  Franklins, — James  and  Ben- 
jamin,— who  had  established  a  printing  house  and  founded  Thk  Mekcitry 
— a  newspaper  still  iniblished,  the  first  in  the  Colony. 

Bishop  Berkeley  gathered  about  him  a  body  of  congenial  men,  edu- 
cated, cultivated  and  inspired  with  high  ideals.  It  was  a  school  of  philoso- 
phic, scientific  and  literary  study  and  investigation.  Books  were  collected, 
read  and  gathered  together  as  the  nucleus  of  the  great  Redwood  Library 
of  Newport.  Ambitious  young  men,  fond  of  study,  found  their  way  to 
Newport  to  satisfy  their  strong  desires  for  knowledge  and  culture.  The 
Berkeleyan  educational  magnet  drew  the  choice  spirits  from  all  parts  of  the 

R  1-^2 


658  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

Colony  and  charged  them  with  new  force  for  the  great  demands  of  the 
pre-revohitionary  and  revolutionary  periods. 

Stephen  Hopkins  was  one  of  the  young  men  who  found  at  Newport 
guidance  and  inspiration  for  the  great  task  of  ])atriots.  Samuel  Ward, 
William  Ellery  and  William  Channing  felt  the  formative  influence  of 
the  Berkeley  school. 

One  of  the  members  of  this  select  society  of  scholars  and  students 
was  Edward  Scott,  the  granduncle  of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  who  had  been 
master  of  the  grammar  school  at  Newport,  the  first  classical  school  estab- 
lished in  Rhode  Island.  Berkeley's  design  to  found  a  college  at  Bermuda 
failed  for  want  of  funds  promised  but  withheld  by  the  English  govern- 
ment. Instead,  his  liberal  gifts  to  Harvard  and  Yale  universities  testify 
still  to  his  love  of  classical  learning,  while  Whitehall  preserves  to  this  day 
the  social,  literary,  philosophical  and  religious  atmosphere  of  the  Berkeley 
period  at  Newport.  The  State  has  reason  to  be  proud  that  George  Berke- 
ley was  once  a  freeman  and  fulfilled  in  largest  measure  a  freeman's  obliga- 
tions in  the  town  he  called  his  home,  surrounded  by  a  group  of  men  and 
women  whom  he  loved  and  to  whom  he  taught  some  great  lessons  in  the 
school  of  life.  No  Colony  of  the  old  thirteen  enjoyed  the  influence  of  a 
greater  mind  and  a  purer  soul  in  forces  spiritual  and  still  alive  in  our  own 
remote  time. 

As  the  possession  and  use  of  books  in  the  family  are  strong  evidence 
as  to  the  intelligence  and  educational  spirit  of  the  owners,  it  is  a  matter  of 
great  interest  to  study  the  inventories  of  the  early  settlers  of  Rhode  Island. 
It  is  usually  assumed  that  most  of  the  families  had  a  copy  of  the  Bible  or  a 
Testament,  but  the  records  of  at  least  three-fourths  of  the  families  do  not 
sustain  the  assumption  that  every  home  had  a  Bible. 

Thomas  Barnes  (1719),  of  Swansea,  now  Barrington,  had  books 
to  the  value  of  £2.    Inventory,  £2497. 

James  Andnnv  (1716),  had  two  Bibles,  a  sermon  book,  a  mariner 
book  and  two  story  books. 

Peter  Ayrault  (  1705)  ;  old  books,  £1,  3s. 

Gabriel  Bernon  ( 1736)  ;  books  and  six  large  maps. 

William  Blackstonc  (1675),  three  Bibles,  los. ;  six  English  books  in 
folio,  £2,  IDS.;  three  Latin  books  in  folio,  15s.;  eight  biggest  books,  £2; 
fifteen  quarto  books,  £1,  17s.,  6p. ;  fourteen  small  books  in  quarto,  14s.; 
thirty  books  in  large  octavo,  £4;  twenty-five  small  books,  £1,  15s.; 
twenty-two  duodecimos,  £1,  15s.;  fifty-three  small  books,  without  cover, 
13s. ;  10  paper  books,  5s. 

William  Carpenter,  Rehoboth  (1659)  ;  a  Bible  and  Practice  of  Piety. 

Caleb  Carr,  Governor  (1694)  ;  new  great  Bible. 

Captain  Benjamin  Church  (1718)  :  books,  £2. 

Dr.  John  Clarke  ( 1676)  ;  "A  Concordance  and  Lexicon  to  it  written 
by  myself,  a  Hebrew  Bible  and  the  rest  of  books."  to  Richard  Bailey; 
"profits  of  farm  *  *  *  for  relief  of  the  poor  and  the  bringing  up  of  Chil- 
dren unto  learning." 


EDUCATION  659 

^■Irthur  Fcnnrr  (1706)  ;  a  book  called  The  Statute,  £2,  los. 

Arthur  Fenncr  (1724),  had  "one  Create  Bible,  one  small  Rible,  a 
Testament  and  two  more  large  Bookes  with  sum  small  bookes"  worth  £5, 
15s.,  6p. 

Thomas  Olncy,  Sen.  {\~2!2)  had  "55  Bookes  which  are  bound  and  23 
small  Bookes  not  bound." 

Major  irHliam  Hopkins  ( 17-23)  had  "one  Bible,  one  Law  Booke  and 
Sundry  small  Hookes"  of  the  value  £2,  7s. 

Resolved  Waterman  (1719)  ;  a  great  Bible  and  several  small  books, 
£5,  15s.  6p.    A  Bible  and  Testament  by  first  wife,  i-as. 

Obadiah  Brown,  (died  1716) ;  two  books,  one  Bible  and  other  books, 
14s.  6p. 

Joseph  Jenckes  (1717),  four  old  books,  lis.  6p. ;  an  old  Bible,  4s. 
Total,  15s.  6p. 

William  Corbett  (1718)  ;  two  old  Bibles  and  Psalm  book,  is.,  6p. 

Pardon  Tillinghast  (1718)  ;  books  and  silver  spoon,  £1. 

Nathaniel  Mozcry  (1718)  ;  an  old  Bible  and  four  old  books,  7s. 

Thomas  Fenner  (1718)  ;  a  Bible,  half  a  statute  book,  a  book  called 
Dal  ton  and  several  other  books,  £4,  3s. 

John  Paine  ( 1718)  ;  one  Bible  and  sundry  old  books. 

James  Rogers  { 1719)  ;  his  books,  5s. 

Stephen  Arnold  (  1720)  ;  books,  £20. 

Major  William  Crazcford  (1720)  ;  books,  £13. 

Lett  Tripp;  Bible,  Testament  and  small  books,  15s. 

John  Angell  (1720)  ;  a  Bible,  los. ;  a  negro  woman,  £30. 

Dr.  John  Jenckes,  1721  ;  Phisick  books.  i8s. ;  one  Bible,  £1,  is.  Total 
£1,  19s.    Four  books,  £l  ;  fourteen  books,  £1. 

Samuel  Gorton  (1723)  ;  had  books  of  the  value  of  12s. 

Captain  Nathaniel  Jenckes  (1723)  :  had  "a  Create  Bible  and  other 
Books"  valued  at  £2,  15s. 

Edward  Manton  (1723)  :  had  "a  hundred  Bookes,"  value    £17,  15s. 

Joseph  Williams,  son  of  Roger  (1724)  ;  had  books  to  the  value  of  i6s. 

John  Votes  (1724)  ;  left  "a  Old  Bible  and  three  Other  Old  Books." 

Andrczv  Harris  ( 1725)  ;  had  books  valued  at  £13,  4s.  6p. 

Lieutenant  William  Harris  (1726)  ;  had  books  worth  £1,  8s. 

Thomas  Willett  (1674)  ;  had  among  his  books  "Pilgrimage  in  Hol- 
land," "Ceneral  Practice  of  Physic,"  "I^uther's  Table  Talk,"  Allen's  "Doc- 
trine of  the  Cospel,"  "Holy  War,"  "Smith's  Voyages,"  "Heber's  Episcopal 
Policy,"  "Heber's  Cosmography,"  "History  of  New  England,"  "Wilson's 
Dictionary,"  "Calvin's  Harmony." 

William  Harris  ( 1682)  ;  had  two  Bibles,  and,  among  other  books, 
were  "London  Dispensatory,"  "The  Chirurgeon's  Mate,"  "Norwood's  Tri- 
angles," "Contemplations  Moral  and  Divine,"  "The  Competent  Clerk," 
"The  Touchstone  of  Wills"  and  "Coke's  Commentary  on  Littleton." 

The  study  of  many  itemized  inventories  in  Rhode  Island  probate 
record  offices  do  not  impress  one  as  to  the  high  literary  qualifications  of  the 
men  of  the  early  Colonial  period,  while  the  books,  outside  the  Bible,  had 
no  value  for  child  education,  and  were  relish  only  for  strong-minded  men 
and  women,  as  evidenced  by  the  titles  quoted. 


66o  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

All  their  books  of  the  early  years  were  English  in  author  and  pub- 
lisher. The  narrow  financial  circumstances  of  the  settlers  made  narrow 
possessions  of  books,  but  those  which  were  owned  were  undoubtedly  well 
read.  In  fact,  the  Bible  was  not  only  the  best  read  book  among  the  New 
England  colonists,  it  was  memorized  by  parents  and  children — a  veritable 
text-book  of  life,  of  manners,  of  morals,  of  poetry,  of  history,  of  biogra- 
phy, of  the  saving  truths  of  religion  and  man's  duties  to  his  Maker. 
Through  the  eighteenth,  most  of  tlie  nineteenth,  and  even  into  the  twen- 
tieth century,  the  Bible  has  been  daily  read  by  teachers  and  pupils  of  most 
schools,  public  and  private,  and  in  many,  for  the  whole  period,  some  form 
of  prayer,  extemporaneous  or  the  Lord's  Prayer,  accompanied  the  Bible 
reading  and  the  singing  of  spiritual,  moral  or  patriotic  hymns  at  the  open- 
ing exercises  of  the  schools.  Devotional  exercises  of  Bible  reading  and 
prayer  are  still  sustained  in  Brown  University,  in  most  private  schools 
of  all  grades  and  in  all  Roman  Catholic  parochial  schools.  In  Catholic 
institutions  of  all  grades  emphasis  is  laid  on  the  moral  and  religious  edu- 
cation of  the  child  and  much  time  and  attention  are  given  to  the  forms  and 
spiritual  idealism  of  their  faith. 

It  may  be  safely  stated  that  few  books  published  prior  to  the  nine- 
teenth century  had  any  educational  value  for  children  and  youth.  Ex- 
ceptions should  be  made  in  favor  of  the  Assembly's  Shorter  Catechism  and 
"Mother  Goose  Melodies."  The  first  was  unpopular  and  of  little  value 
save  as  an  expositor  of  the  Calvinistic  faith.  The  second  has  been  the 
popular  nursery  rhyme  book  for  two  hundred  years  and  still  lives  to  bless 
little  children.  The  opening  years  of  the  nineteenth  century  revealed  an 
ability  of  a  few  men  and  women  to  write  attractive  and  healthful  reading 
for  children  and  youth.  Washington  Irving  was  really  the  founder  of 
American  literature  which  instructed  and  satisfied  the  adult  and  youthful 
mind  in  such  books  as  "The  History  of  New  York  from  the  Beginning  of 
the  World,"  "Rip  Van  Winkle,"  "Life  of  Columbus"  and  "Life  of  Wash- 
ington." Through  such  books  the  healthy  mental  appetite  of  youth  was 
satisfied.  The  educational  literature  of  the  last  hundred  years  would 
require  a  volume  of  prodigious  sire  to  compass.  Reference  can  only  be 
made  to  the  "Rollo  Books"  and  the  "Lucy  Books"  by  Jacob  Abbott,  which 
led  the  way  in  a  healthy  fiction  for  boys  and  girls,  and  grown  people  as 
well. 

Concerning  school  text-books  of  the  early  day,  little  can  be  said,  for 
they  were  very  few,  even  into  the  nineteenth  century. 

Reading  and  writing  were  the  principal  subjects  taught  in  the  first 
common  schools  of  New  England,  the  Bible  being  the  text-book  in  read- 
ing. One  pupil  tells  us  that  he  had  read  his  Bible  through  thrice  before 
he  was  seven  years  old.    The  New  England  Primer  and  Dilworth's  Spell- 


EDUCATION  66i 

ing  Book  were  also  used.  The  master  set  sums  in  matiuscript  books,  but 
did  not  go  further  then  the  Rule  of  Three. 

"In  the  town  of  Swansea,  now  Barrington,  in  part,  in  1673,  it  was 
voted  Item.  con.  that  a  school  be  forthwith  set  up  in  this  Town  for  the 
teaching  of  Grammar,  Rhetoric  and  Arithmetic,  and  the  tongues  of  Latin, 
Greek  and  Hebrew,  also  to  read  English  and  to  write,  and  that  a  salary  of 
£40  per  annum  in  current  county  pay,  which  passeth  from  man  to  man, 
be  duly  paid  from  time  to  time,  and  at  all  times  hereafter  to  the  school- 
master thereof,  and  that  Mr.  John  Myles,  the  present  pastor  of  the  Church 
here  assembling  be  the  schoolmaster,  otherwise  to  have  power  to  dispose 
the  same  to  an  able  schoolmaster  during  the  said  pastor's  life." 

The  "Horn-book"  was  a  simpler  book  for  beginners  than  the  New 
England  Primer,  which  in  its  later  editions  contained  the  catechisms  of 
John  Cotton  and  that  of  the  Westminster  Assembly.  The  hornbook  was 
so  called  on  account  of  its  horn  cover,  which  rendered  it  indestructible 
from  without.  Shakespeare  calls  it  the  "teacher  of  boys"  in  his  time,  and 
it  was  used  in  Massachusetts  and  other  parts  of  New  England  a  little 
over  a  hundred  years  ago.  "He  does  not  know  his  hornbook,"  was  equi- 
valent to  "he  does  not  know  his  letters."  A  single  book  would  often 
serve  two  or  three  generations  of  children  of  the  same  family,  so  care- 
fully were  those  early  text  books  used  and  handed  down  from  parents 
to  children. 

The  early  schoolhouses  were  very  simple  wooden  structures,  with 
long  wooden  benches  and  desks,  heated  from  open  fire  places  at  the  end 
of  the  room  opposite  the  door,  so  far  as  it  could  be  said  to  have  been 
heated  at  all,  the  wood  for  fuel  furnished  by  the  patrons  of  the  school  in 
lieu  of  money  for  the  support  of  the  school,  the  fires  built  by  the  larger 
boys,  and  the  house  swept  and  otherwise  kept  clean  by  the  larger  girls — 
these  were  some  of  the  conditions  of  that  early  school  life  of  our  ancestors 
two  centuries  ago.  In  fact,  matters  had  but  little  altered  in  the  early  part 
of  this  century  for  Edward  Everett  in  an  address  at  Faneuil  Hall,  Boston, 
in  1855,  speaks  thus  of  the  "old  school  house"  of  1804.  "It  contained  but 
one  room,  heated  in  the  winter  by  an  iron  stove,  which  sent  up  a  funnel 
into  a  curious  brick  chimney,  built  down  from  the  roof,  in  the  middle  of 
the  room,  to  within  seven  or  eight  feet  of  the  floor,  being  like  Mahomet's 
coffin,  held  in  the  air  to  the  roof  by  bars  of  iron.  The  boys  had  to  take 
their  turns,  in  winter,  in  coming  early  to  the  schoolhouse,  to  open  it,  to 
make  a  fire,  sometimes  of  wet  logs  in  a  very  inadeciuate  supply  of  other 
combustibles,  to  sweep  out  the  room,  and,  if  need  be,  to  shovel  a  path 
through  the  snow  to  the  street.  These  were  not  very  fascinating  duties 
for  an  urchin  of  ten  or  eleven ;  but  we  lived  through  it,  and  were  perhaps 
not  the  worse  for  having  to  turn  our  hands  to  these  little  offices." 


662  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

The  first  truant  school  established  in  fact  in  America,  originated  in 
the  following  vote  in  Salem,  Massachusetts.  December,  1673.  "As  five 
men  neglected  to  have  their  children  instructed  and  brought  up  to  some 
useful  calling,  our  selectmen  advertise  that  such  children  should  be  put 
out  to  service." 

The  crowning  educational  event  in  Rhode  Island  of  the  eighteenth 
century  was  the  founding  of  Rhode  Island  College,  now  Brown  Univer- 
sity. This  institution  of  higher  education  had  its  birth  in  the  minds  and 
hearts  of  men  and  women  of  the  Baptist  faith,  who  began  to  demand  an 
educated  ministry  for  their  churches,  in  order  that  the  denomination  might 
hold  its  own  in  the  educational  equipment  of  its  ministers,  with  the  clergy 
of  the  Pilgrim  and  Puritan  Congregational  and  Presbyterian  faiths,  who 
had  Harvard,  Yale  and  Princeton  colleges  as  the  feeders  of  their  pulpits, 
"with  learned,  pious,  orthodox  ministers."  The  birth-place  of  the  college 
was  in  Hopewell  Academy,  New  Jersey,  founded  in  1756  "for  the  edu- 
cation of  youth  for  the  ministry."  It  was  at  this  academy  that  James 
Manning,  the  first  President  of  the  College,  and  Rev.  John  Gano,  an 
associate,  were  educated.  David  Howell,  later  a  professor  in  the  college 
and  a  distinguished  jurist  was  a  student  of  Hopewell.  The  success  of 
the  Academy  encouraged  leading  Baptists  to  erect  a  college  in  some  colony 
which  would  be  practically  under  the  government  and  instruction  of  Bap- 
tists. In  seeking  the  right  place  for  such  an  institution,  Rhode  Island 
was  chosen,  for  the  reason  that  this  colony  was  the  strong-hold  of  Baptists 
in  New  England.  Rev.  Morgan  Edwards,  of  Philadelphia,  was  the 
chosen  leader,  who,  as  he  says,  "labored  hard  to  settle  a  Baptist  college  in 
the  Rhode  Island  Government,  and  to  raise  money  to  endow  it."  Backus 
writes  it  was  found  "practicable  and  expedient  to  erect  a  college  in  the 
Colony  of  Rhode  Island,  under  the  chief  direction  of  the  Baptists,  wherein 
education  might  be  promoted,  and  superior  learning  obtained,  free  of  any 
sectarian  religious  tests.  Mr.  James  Manning,  who  took  his  first  degree 
in  New  Jersey,  in  September,  1762,  was  esteemed  a  suitable  leader  in 
this  important  work." 

In  1763,  the  town  of  Warren,  then  including  the  present  town  of 
Barrington.  had  within  its  bounds  about  sixty  Baptist  communicants,  the 
majority  of  whom  were  members  of  the  ancient  John  Myles  Church  of  old 
Swansea.  These  Baptists  decided  to  form  a  separate  church  at  Warren 
and  build  a  meeting  house  in  their  own  neighborhood.  Under  date  of 
February  17,  1764,  the  congregation  at  Warren  invited  Rev.  James  Man- 
ning to  be  its  pastor  and  the  call  was  accepted.  His  ability  and  eloquence 
attracted  the  people  and  a  church  of  58  members  was  organized  and  a 
parsonage  built  the  same  year.  Mr.  Manning  opened  a  Latin  school  at 
Warren,  which  was  continued  until  1770,  when  it  was  removed  to  Provi- 


.^^ 


EDUCATION  663 

deuce  and  was  known  as  the  University  Grammar  School,  fitting  students 
for  the  college. 

Leading  Baptists  of  Rhode  Island  endorsed  the  movement  of  the 
Philadelphia  Association  for  the  founding  of  a  denominational  college  in 
this  Colony.  In  July,  1763,  Mr.  Manning  and  Rev.  James  Sutton  visited 
Newport  to  consult  with  seyeral  Baptist  gentlemen,  Col.  John  Gardner, 
the  Deputy  Governor,  being  one,  "relative  to  a  seminary  of  Polite  Litera- 
ture, subject  to  the  government  of  the  Baptists."  Fifteen  gentlemen  met 
at  Colonel  Gardner's  house,  among  whom  were  Hon.  Josiah  Lynden,  Col. 
Job  Bennett,  Gov.  Samuel  Ward,  Dr.  Thomas  Eyres  and  the  three  Baptist 
pastors  of  the  town.  As  a  result  of  this  meeting  a  committee  was  chosen, 
consisting  of  Gov.  Lyndon  and  Col.  Bennett  to  make  a  draft  of  a  charter 
for  a  college  to  be  laid  before  the  next  General  Assembly.  Lyndon  and 
Bennett  conferred  with  Rev.  Ezra  Stiles,  D.  D.,  later  the  distinguished 
president  of  Yale  College,  at  that  time  pastor  of  the  Congregational  church 
at  Newport.  Dr.  Stiles,  assisted  by  Hon.  William  Ellery,  one  of  the  sign- 
ers of  the  Declaration  of  American  Independence,  drew  up  the  form  of  a 
charter  and  a  petition  to  the  General  Assembly,  both  of  which  met  the 
approval  of  the  Rhode  Island  gentlemen  already  mentioned,  interested  in 
the  college  plan.  Mr.  Manning  was  not  present  at  the  meeting  when 
the  Stiles  charter  was  adopted  and  we  have  no  report  of  the  discussion 
which  took  place.  It  appears,  however,  that  in  the  matter  of  the  govern- 
ment of  the  institution,  the  Stiles  draft  gave  the  Baptists  a  majority  in 
the  board  of  trustees  and  the  Congregationalists  a  majority  of  the  fellows. 
As  Baptist  control  of  the  proposed  institution  was  demanded  by  the  Bap- 
tists, and  a  vital  feature  of  their  plan,  it  must  be  believed  that  the  dual 
plan  of  Dr.  Stiles  was  carefully  considered  by  the  body  of  reviewers  for 
the  petition  to  the  General  Assembly,  for  the  charter,  as  drawn  and 
amended,  was  signed  by  sixty-one  prominent  Rhode  Islanders,  "after 
carefully  considering  and  revising  it."  Among  the  names  are  those  of 
Samuel  Ward,  Josias  Lyndon,  William  Ellery,  John  Gardner,  Job  Ben- 
nett, Rev.  Gardner  Thurston,  John  Tillinghast,  Oliver  Arnold,  Rev.  Joshua 
Clarke,  Rev.  Gardner  Thurston,  Caleb  Gardner,  William  Vernon  and 
others,  prominent  Baptists  and  Congregationalists.  It  has  been  charged 
that  Dr.  Stiles,  in  his  draft,  exceeded  his  express  instructions  to  establish 
a  Baptist  college,  under  control  of  the  Baptists.  It  must  be  acknowledged 
that  Dr.  Stiles,  one  of  the  most  eminent  and  learned  ministers  of  New 
England  Congregationalists,  of  Puritan  orthodoxy,  had  a  hard  task  as- 
signed him  to  draft  a  charter  for  a  Baptist  denominational  college,  more 
especially  at  Newport,  where  the  great  principle  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty  was  first  given  free  and  full  expression.  In  his  mind,  the  institu- 
tions of  education  were  not  to  be  confined  in  denominational  bounds  or 


664  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

conducted  by  sectarian  agents.  A  broader  policy  was  set  forth  in  the 
draft,  which  gave  to  the  Congregational  body,  the  strongest  in  New  Eng- 
land, and  the  one  most  devoted  to  liberal  education,  an  equal  voice  in  the 
control  of  the  college.  The  insertion  of  this  provision  is  attributed  to 
Dr.  Stiles,  and  it  is  to  his  great  honor  as  an  educator  and  statesman. 
Certain  it  is  that  it  did  not  escape  the  careful  scrutiny  of  the  men  who 
first  met  to  consider  with  Mr.  Manning  the  establishment  of  a  school  of 
liberal  learning.  Many  of  them  were  leading  Baptists,  others  were  men 
high  in  the  Colonial  councils  and  government  and  were  familiar  with 
the  purposes  of  the  Baptists,  but  all  saw  what  to  them  seemed  the  wiser 
policy — a  policy  which  has  been  confirmed  for  its  wisdom  by  the  whole 
history  of  the  college. 

The  petition  and  charter  were  presented  to  the  General  Assembly, 
meeting  at  Newport,  August,  1763,  and  the  acceptance  of  the  petition  and 
granting  the  charter  were  urged  by  Mr.  Ellery  and  others,  but  was  opposed 
by  Mr.  Daniel  Jenckes  of  Providence,  a  prominent  Baptist  and  son  of 
Rev.  Ebenezer  Jenckes,  once  pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  church.  Provi- 
dence. Mr.  Jenckes  stated  that  the  charter  as  read  did  not  establish  a 
Baptist  college  as  the  promoters  expected  and  asked  delay  for  further 
consideration  and  amendment,  which  was  granted.  In  the  debate  which 
followed,  bitter  words  were  said  on  both  sides,  for  and  against  a  sectarian 
Baptist  college,  and  the  charter  failed  of  adoption  at  this  session.  At  the 
next  session  of  the  Assembly  at  South  Kingstown,  a  second  and  revised 
charter  was  presented  which  gave  the  absolute  control  of  the  college  to 
the  Baptists.  This  charter  was  fought  strenuously  on  the  same  general 
lines  as  was  the  first  and  failed  of  adoption.  At  a  session  of  the  General 
Assembly  held  at  the  Court  House  in  East  Greenwich,  February,  1764,  a 
second  revised  draft  of  a  charter  was  presented,  discussed,  amended  and 
finally  enacted.  As  a  majority  of  the  Assembly  were  Baptists,  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  understand  why  the  charter  failed  on  the  second  trial  and  met  with 
such  success  on  the  third.  The  most  satisfactory  explanation  is  found 
in  the  concessions  made  to  the  Quakers  and  Episcopalians,  so  that  of  the 
thirty-six  trustees,  twenty-two  should  be  Baptists,  five  Friends  or  Quakers, 
four  Congregationalists  and  five  Episcopalians.  The  Board  of  Fellows 
was  made  up  of  twelve  members,  eight  of  whom  were  Baptists  and 
the  other  four  of  any  other  denominations.  The  original  draft  of  Dr. 
Stiles  gave  the  Congregationalists  eight  in  the  Fellowship,  for  which,  in 
the  adopted  charter  eight  Baptists  were  substituted.  The  Congregation- 
alists were  reduced  to  the  lowest  position,  having  only  four  members  in 
the  governing  body,  while  the  Baptists  had  thirty  members  out  of  forty- 
eight  in  the  two  bodies,  styled  the  Corporation  of  Rhode  Island  College. 


EDUCATION  66s 

Among  the  declarations  of  the  charter  of  greatest  moment  were  these: 

Into  this  Hberal  and  cathohc  institution  shall  never  be  admitted  any 
religious  tests. 

On  the  contrary,  all  the  members  hereof  shall  forever  enjoy  full, 
fr*"",  absolute  and  uninterrujitod  lilxjrty  of  conscience. 

The  places  of  professors,  tutors  and  all  other  officers,  the  president 
alone  e.xcepted,  shall  be  free  and  open  for  ail  denominations  of  Protestants. 

Youth  of  all  religious  denominations  shall  and  may  be  freely  ad- 
mitted to  the  equal  advantages,  emoluments,  and  honors  of  the  college  or 
university :  and  shall  receive  a  like  fair,  generous  and  equal  treatment, 
during  their  residence  therein,  they  conducting  themselves  peaceably,  and 
conforming  to  the  laws  and  statutes  thereof 

The  public  teaching  shall,  in  general  respect  the  sciences,  and  the 
sectarian  differences  of  opinions  shall  not  make  any  part  of  the  public 
and  classical  instruction. 

The  Providence  Gazette,  March  lo,  1764,  has  the  follovkfing  brief 
reference  to  the  incorporation  of  Rhode  Island  College: 

During  the  session  a  charter  was  presented  for  erecting  a  college  in 
this  government  which  was  granted,  ncminc  contrad'icentc.  [Such  an 
institution,  upon  a  catholic  plan,  will  be  productive  of  infinite  benefit  to 
the  community,  and  must  reflect  the  highest  honor  on  its  patrons  and 
encouragersl. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  corporation,  trustees  and  fellows  of  the 
college  met  at  Newport,  .September,  1764,  when  twenty-four  gentlemen 
took  the  oath  of  office  prescribed  by  the  charter  and  elected  Hon.  Stephen 
Hopkins,  a  Quaker,  chancellor,  John  Tillinghast,  treasurer,  and  Dr. 
Thomas  Eyres,  secretary,  both  Baptists. 

.^t  the  second  annual  meeting  of  the  corporation.  September,  T765, 
Rev.  James  Manning,  of  Warren,  was  chosen  "President  of  the  College, 
Professor  of  Languages  and  other  Branches  of  Learning,  with  full  power 
to  act  immediately  in  these  capacities  at  Warren  or  elsewhere." 

Seven  members  constituted  the  first  class  that  graduated  from  Rhode 
Island  College,  at  the  first  commencement  exercises  held  at  Warren, 
September  7,  1769.  Two  of  the  class  won  distinction — William  Rogers, 
a  native  of  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  was  distinguished  as  a  preacher  and 
teacher,  and  James  M.  Varnum,  as  a  lawyer,  military  commander  in  the 
Revolution,  member  of  Continental  Congress,  and  judge  of  the  North- 
west Territory,  achieved  high  national  honors. 

In  1769  leading  citizens  in  Warren,  Newport,  Westerly,  East  Green- 
wich and  Providence,  seeing  a  future  for  the  college,  discussed  the  erec- 
tion of  a  building  for  its  housing,  and  directly  the  north  and  south  parts 
of  the  State  were  arrayed  against  each  other  in  their  claims  for  its  loca- 
tion. The  Brown  brothers  of  Providence  led  by  Moses,  the  founder  of 
the  Friends'  School,  naturally  led  the  party  for  locating  the  college  at 


666  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

Providence.  Ward,  Ellery,  Redwood,  Babcock  and  many  others  fought 
for  its  location  at  Newport.  The  contest  was  warm,  even  to  passion  and 
bitterness.  Manning  favored  Providence  as  the  proper  home  for  the 
college,  and  although  the  actual  money  pledges  of  Newport  and  the  south 
part  of  the  State  exceeded  those  of  Providence  and  the  north,  the  deci- 
sion as  to  the  location  was  rendered  by  a  vote  of  twenty-one  in  favor  of 
Providence  to  fourteen  for  Newport.  Mr.  Guild,  Mr.  Manning's  his- 
torian, justifies  tlie  final  vote  "Interpretation,"  as  applied  to  the  factors 
on  which  the  decision  rested.  Rhode  Island  College  was  removed  to 
Providence  and  President  Manning  had  won  his  second  victory.  The 
story  of  the  charter  and  location  is  told  by  Dr.  Reuben  A.  Guild  in  "Brown 
University  and  James  Manning" — a  book  well  worth  reading  for  the 
knowledge  it  gives  of  the  early  years  of  struggle  for  Rhode  Island  Col- 
lege, which,  in  1804,  became  Brown  University  by  a  liberal  donation  of 
Nicholas  Brown,  of  Providence. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  the  catholicity  of  the  charter  of  Brown 
University,  and  its  liberal  provisions  have  been  admired,  followed  and 
studied  in  the  founding  of  similar  institutions  of  learning.  As  it  is  a 
Baptist  institution  in  government,  it  has  been  assumed  that  its  charter  was 
of  Baptist  origin  and  authorship,  which  is  not  true.  No  Baptist  of  that 
period  could  or  would  have  penned  so  remarkable  an  educational  docu- 
ment. The  charter  of  Brown  University  is  an  educational  Declaration 
of  Independence.  In  it  appears  the  doctrine  of  soul  liberty  of  Dr.  John 
Clarke  and  the  statesmanship  of  Thomas  Jefferson.  As  the  Rhode  Island 
charter  of  1663  leads  all  declarations  and  definitions  of  civil  rights,  not 
excepting  Magna  Charta,  so  the  charter  of  Rhode  Island  College,  1764, 
e.xpressed  in  clear,  vigorous  and  comprehensive  language  the  doctrines  of 
rights,  duties,  privileges  and  emoluments  of  the  student  and  scholar,  in 
advance  of  any  similar  document  in  human  history.  By  that  charter  the 
corporation  of  the  college  was  made  the  guardian  of  the  student  life  of 
multitudes  of  youth,  no  one  of  whom,  from  the  days  of  Manning  to  our 
own,  has  ever  been  made  conscious  of  the  least  interference  with  individ- 
ual freedom  in  things,  temporal,  educational  or  spiritual.  Rhode  Island 
College  has  been  an  Absolute  Democracy,  social,  intellectual,  spiritual. 
Gentile  and  Jew,  bond  and  free,  Christian  and  Heathen,  have  found  a 
broad  educational  platform  of  beliefs,  thought  and  practice  on  which  all 
could  stand,  without  jostling.  Its  sole  author  was  Rev.  Ezra  Stiles,  D.  D., 
pastor  of  the  Second  Congregational  Church,  Newport,  Rhode  Island, 
from  1755  to  1777,  and  president  of  Yale  College  from  1778  to  1795,  the 
date  of  his  death.  Dr.  Stiles  received  the  title,  "the  most  learned  .-Amer- 
ican of  his  age,"  and  Mr.  Bartlett  says:  "In  the  extent  and  variety  of  his 
acquirements   he   was   probably   the   most   accomplished   scholar    in   this 


President  of  Brown  University,  1826 


EDUCATION  667 

country  in  the  times  in  which  he  lived."  The  original  draft  of  the  charter, 
in  the  handwriting  of  Dr.  Stiles,  now  in  the  possession  of  the  Corpora- 
tion of  Brown  University,  has  never  been  printed,  as  it  sometime  must 
be.  It  is  well  known  that  Dr.  Stiles  was  severely  criticised  by  Rev.  Mr. 
Edwards  and  other  Bajjtists,  for  "treachery"  in  not  following  the  instruc- 
tions of  Mr.  Manning  in  making  a  Baptist  college.  The  fact  is  that  Dr. 
Stiles  made  it  a  Baptist  college  and  more — he  builded  an  interdenomina- 
tional college  on  that  foundation.  A  comparison  of  the  original  and  the 
amended  drafts  of  the  charter  shows  the  narrowing  action  of  the  Baptists 
of  that  period,  the  result  of  which  was  to  alienate  the  whole  Congregational 
body  of  Rhode  Island  towards  Rhode  Island  College,  and  the  injury  to  the 
student  and  financial  interests  of  the  college  is  felt  even  at  the  present 
time.  The  instnmnent  drawn  by  Dr.  .Stiles  illustrated  his  broad  and  lib- 
eral views  of  higher  education,  his  catholic  and  democratic  ideas  as  to 
instruction  and  government  and  his  statesmanshiji  in  anticipating  the  day 
when  sectarian  bias  and  narrow  partisanship  would  give  way  to  the  con- 
federacy of  learning  as  wrought  out  in  the  World  Parliament  of  Wise 
Men.  Dr.  Ezra  Stiles,  in  his  conception  of  a  college  for  Rhode  Island 
was  just  two  centuries  in  advance  of  his  times  as  measured  by  Rhode 
Island  time. 

The  academies  of  Rhode  Island  as  well  as  the  college  antedated  the 
common  or  free  school.  These  schools  prepared  their  students  for  the 
duties  of  intelligent  citizenship,  for  the  fulfillment  of  the  services  of  town 
officers  and  in  some  instances  were  feeders  of  the  college.  Most  of  the 
State  and  town  officers  and  members  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
second  century  of  our  Colonial  life  had  been  under  some  measure  of 
academic  instruction.  The  poverty  of  the  people  appeared  in  the  modest 
buildings  that  housed  teachers  and  scholars,  yet  within  bare  and  homely 
walls  protected  youth,  whose  ambitions  far  outran  their  privileges,  who 
mastered  the  elementary  branches  and  gained  the  power  to  acquire  more 
in  the  practical  affairs  of  life.  Between  the  years  1764  and  1865,  twenty 
institutions  of  an  academy  grade  received  charters  from  the  General 
Assembly  of  Rhode  Island.  The  first  was  the  University  Grammar 
School,  opened  at  Warren  by  James  Manning  in  the  spring  of  1764,  and 
removed  to  Providence  with  the  college  in  1770.  Manning  called  it  a 
Latin  school,  although  he  adds  "a  complete  knowledge  of  grammar,"  and 
"spelling,  reading  and  speaking  English  with  propriety."  "Such  attention 
will  be  paid  to  their  learning  and  morals  as  will  entirely  satisfy."  Man- 
ning had  twenty  boys  as  pupils  in  a  room  in  the  college.  In  1786  this 
school  removed  to  the  brick  school  house,  now  standing  on  Meeting  street. 
Greek  and  Latin  were  taught  at  24  shillings  per  quarter ;  English  at  16 
shillings      About   1800,  the  school  came  back  under  the  shadow  of  the 


668  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

college,  a  building  was  erected  and  the  school  was  made  to  do  preparatory 
work  for  such  freshmen,  which  was  continued  for  a  century  under  able  in- 
structors. From  1845  to  1870,  it  had  enrolled  837  students  in  the  English 
and  Classical  departments.  Merrick  Lyon,  Henry  S.  Frieze  and  Emory 
Lyon  were  the  most  eminent  teachers. 

Kingston  Academy  had  its  origin  in  Boston,  in  1695,  when  Samuel 
Sewall  of  that  town  conveyed  500  acres  of  land  in  Pettaquamscutt  to 
John  Walley  for  "supporting  and  maintaining  a  learned,  sober  and  ortho- 
dox person  to  instruct  the  children  and  youth  *  *  *  to  read  and  write 
the  English  language,  and  the  rules  of  grammar."  Nothing  was  done  till 
1781,  when  a  school  house  was  built  on  Tower  Hill  and  schoolmasters 
began  to  be  employed.  In  18 19,  the  Academy  was  removed  to  Kingston 
Village  and,  in  1823,  was  incorporated  as  the  Pettaquamscutt  Academy. 
In  1826  its  name  was  changed  to  Kingston  Academy.  In  1833.  it  had  137 
students,  when  Elisha  R.  Potter,  later  State  Commissioner  of  Public 
Schools,  was  classical  instructor.  The  last  catalogue  in  1854  named  78 
students  for  the  year.  The  studies  were  Latin,  Greek,  Arithmetic,  Alge- 
bra, Bookkeeping,  Navigation,  Surveying,  Geometry,  Philosophy,  Chem- 
istry, Astronomy,  and  Moral  Philosophy.  The  total  expense  for  a  pupil 
in  English  studies  was  about  $84  a  year,  including  board  at  $1.50  per 
week;  in  classical  studies  $91. 

The  Friends'  School  has  been  and  continues  to  be  one  of  the  most 
influential  of  the  secondary  schools  of  Rhode  Island  and  came  into  being, 
mainly,  by  the  acts  of  that  eminent  citizen  and  friend  of  sound  learning, 
Moses  Brown,  the  youngest  of  the  four  Brown  brothers,  of  Providence. 
In  1780,  Mr.  Brown  contributed  liberally  towards  a  separate  school  for 
the  children  of  Quakers,  taught  by  Quakers,  when  the  Quaker  doctrines 
could  be  freely  taught.  Such  a  school  was  opened  at  Portsmouth,  Rhode 
Island,  where  it  continued  for  four  years,  under  Isaac  Lawton  as  teacher, 
when  it  was  suspended  for  want  of  money,  in  a  period  of  great  financial 
stringency  after  the  Revolutionary  War.  Mr.  Brown  continued  firm  in 
the  purpose  to  establish  a  school  for  Friends  and  jealously  guarded  the 
moneys  he  could  raise,  so  that  when  the  school  was  opened  in  Providence, 
the  fund  was  $9,300.  In  181 4,  he  set  apart  43  acres  of  land  in  Provi- 
dence for  educational  uses  and  money  to  increase  the  endowment  to 
$20,000.  Buildings  were  erected  on  the  land  donated  and  the  Yearly 
Meeting  Boardmg  School  was  opened  in  1819,  and  has  continued  in  in- 
creasing educational  value  and  efficiency.  Its  official  name  is  The  Moses 
Brown  School  and  had  an  enrollment  of  290  students  of  both  sexes  in  1917. 

In  1822,  Moses  Brown's  son,  Obadiah,  gave  the  school  $100,000,  the 
largest  sum  of  money  which  any  institution  of  learning  in  America  had 
at  that  time  received,  and  this  money  had  been  made  by  the  manufacture 


EDUCATION  669 

of  cotton,  an  industry  established  by  his  father  in  connection  with  Sam- 
uel Slater,  who  came  to  Rhode  Island  by  Mr.   l'>rown's  encouragement. 

While  the  Moses  Brown  School  is  under  the  management  of  Friends, 
it  has  always  been  and  continues  to  be  unscctarian  in  its  membership, 
policy  and  spirit.  While  strictly  loyal  to  the  ])urposes  and  principles  of 
the  founder,  it  has  been  mindful  of  the  progress  of  society  and  kindred 
institutions  and  has  shaped  its  administration  and  instruction  to  the 
demands  and  duties  of  the  new  age.  Following  a  conservative  policy,  the 
school  has  won  to  its  patronage  the  best  of  city  and  country  scholarship, 
while  its  faculty  has  been  wise  in  discipline,  scholarly  in  instruction  and 
forceful  in  moral  power.  Instruction  is  given  in  all  the  subjects  that  are 
taught  in  Brown  University.  Graduates  of  the  school  are  accredited  to 
college  without  examinations. 

Washington  Academy  was  chartered  in  1800,  and  was  located  at 
Wick  ford,  on  the  demand  of  leading  citizens  of  Newport,  Providence 
and  Warwick  for  an  institution  where  young  men  could  be  trained  for 
teaching.  It  was  called  "a  liberal  and  catholic  institution,"  with  "absolute 
liberty  of  conscience,"  "the  places  of  instructors  free  to  all  denominations" 
and  "youth  of  all  religious  denominations"  were  to  "receive  alike  fair, 
generous  and  equal  treatment."  In  addition  to  the  usual  English  branches, 
the  higher  mathematics,  navigation,  surveying  and  astronomy  were 
taught.  One  pupil,  Jeremiah  Chadsey,  was  so  well  instructed  in  astronomy 
that  he  made  an  almanac,  with  all  the  usual  calculation  for  the  year.  In 
1848.  this  Academy  became  a  public  school  of  the  town. 

Kent  Academy,  later  East  Greenwich,  located  in  this  interesting  and 
historic  town,  was  incorporated  in  1802,  "to  promote  the  good  of  man- 
kind," and  "of  introducing  a  settled  minister  of  the  gospel  to  preach  in 
the  meeting  house,  which  is  now  so  seldom  improved."  Mr.  Abner  Alden, 
the  first  principal,  was  considered  "an  ideal  schoolmaster."  In  1840,  the 
Academy  was  purchased  by  the  Providence  Conference  of  Methodists  and 
since  that  date  has  been  a  fitting  school  for  college.  Among  its  principals, 
the  more  noted  have  been  George  W.  Greene,  Rev.  Albert  Allyn,  Rev. 
Micah  J.  Talbot,  Rev.  James  T.  Edwards,  and  Rev.  F.  D.  Blakeslee.  Its 
graduates  include  William  Sprague,  Governor  of  Rhode  Island  and 
United  States  Senator ;  Nelson  W.  Aldrich,  United  States  Senator ;  Chief 
Justices  of  Supreme  Court  of  Rhode  Island,  Charles  Matteson,  and  Pardon 
El.  Tillinghast ;  Lieutenant-Governors  Henry  T.  Sisson  and  Enos  Lap- 
ham;  President  W.  F.  Warren,  Boston  University;  Dr.  Eben  Tourjee,  of 
Boston,  and  Professor  Alonzo  Williams,  of  Brown  University. 

Schools  of  the  academic  type  were  also  founded  at  Westerly,  Bristol, 
South  Kingston,  Warwick,  Warren,  Woonsocket,  North  Providence,  Cov- 
entry, and  six  or  seven  in  Providence.     Smithfield  -Academy,  at  Uniori 


670  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

Village,  Woonsocket,  was  one  of  the  most  useful  of  this  class  of  schools, 
chartered  in  1808,  through  the  efforts  of  Elisha  Thornton  and  Nicholas 
Brown.  The  building  money  was  raised  by  lottery,  although  its  chief 
support  was  from  the  Quakers.  The  grade  was  that  of  a  preparatory 
school  of  students  for  New  England  colleges.  The  first  principal  was 
David  Aldrich.  Its  greatest  prosperity  was  under  the  principalship  of 
Prof.  James  Bushee,  a  Quaker  and  an  able  teacher.  The  sciences,  espec- 
ially Astronomy,  received  large  attention  and  it  was  said  that  the  cabinets 
of  minerals  and  chemicals  and  philosophic  apparatus  were  equal  to  those 
of  Brown  University.  Mr.  Bushee  was  a  man  of  progressive  ideas,  was 
the  first  to  organize  a  course  of  popular  lectures  at  Woonsocket  and  was 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  Worcester  Natural  History  Society. 

One  of  the  old  academies  still  exists  at  North  Scituate  under  the 
name  of  Pentecostal  Collegiate  Institute.  Its  earliest  title  was  the  Smith- 
field  Seminary,  later  Lapham  Institute.  It  was  founded  by  the  Rhode 
Island  Association  of  Free  Baptists  and  was  designed  to  give  a  liberal 
education  to  youths  of  both  sexes.  Twenty  thousand  dollars,  solicited 
from  the  savings  of  country  people  of  small  means,  were  invested  in 
buildings  and  equipment  and  the  school  was  opened  in  1839  under  the 
principalship  of  Rev.  Hosea  Quimby.  Instruction  was  given  in  math- 
ematics, the  natural  sciences,  metaphysics,  and  in  English,  Greek,  Latin, 
French,  Spanish,  German,  Hebrew  and  Italian,  drawing,  painting  and 
instrumental  and  vocal  music,  and  was  designed  to  fit  students  for  college 
and  to  furnish  a  thorough,  practical  education  for  those  not  taking  a  col- 
lege course.  This  school  has  had  an  extra-State  patronage  and  a  good 
reputation  for  morals  and  instruction.  President  James  B  Angell  and 
Gov.  Henry  Howard  were  once  pupils  at  North  Scituate. 

The  Fruit  Hill  School,  under  Mr.  Stanton  Belden,  and  the  English 
and  Classical  High  School  at  Providence,  under  Messrs.  Ladd,  Mowry 
and  Goff,  have  done  great  service  to  education,  in  training  boys  of  the 
city  and  State  for  business  life  and  for  college. 

Two  seminaries  for  young  women  demand  special  notice.  One  at 
Warren,  in  its  most  flourishing  estate  under  the  jirincipalship  of  Mr.  Asa 
Messer  Gammell,  gave  good  educational  discipline  and  instruction  to 
1500  young  ladies  of  the  State,  many  of  whom  became  teachers  in  public 
or  private  schools. 

The  most  eminent  school  for  girls  was  established  on  Benefit  street. 
Providence,  by  Mr.  John  Kingsbury,  under  the  name  of  the  Young 
Ladies  High  School,  in  1828.  This  school  was  a  pioneer  in  the  higher 
training  of  women  and  its  history  illustrates  the  status  and  progress  of 
female  education  for  a  period  of  thirty  years,  when  Mr.  Kingsbury  re- 
signed his  headship  of  the  school  to  accept  the  commissionership  of  edu- 


■J  ■-■'■-. 


s    5v 


EDUCATION  671 

cation  for  Rliode  Island  and  later  to  enter  into  business  life.  Professor 
Lincoln,  of  Brown  University,  followed  Mr.  Kingsbury  in  the  charge  of 
the  school  and  he  was  followed  by  Rev.  J.  C.  Stockbridge,  D.  D.,  all  of 
whom  cherished  and  fulfilled  high  ideals  for  the  school.  Hundreds  of 
the  leading  women  of  the  State  as  well  as  city  were  indebted  to  Mr. 
Kingsbury  and  his  successors  for  an  outlook  on  and  an  accjuaintance  with 
the  higher  life  of  woman,  as  attained  by  true  cultural  methods  and  genius. 

During  the  first  centuries  of  the  Colony  and  State,  secondary  and 
college  education  was  at  private  cost,  and  primary  education  was  wholly 
or  partially  at  private  support  until  the  last  half  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
when  primary  and  secondary  schools  came  to  be  free  to  all  the  children 
and  youths  of  the  State,  and  compulsory  laws  were  enacted  to  secure  the 
regular  attendance  at  school  of  all  children,  between  six  and  si.xteen  years 
of  age.  In  some  towns,  the  income  of  school  lands  helped  to  support 
the  school.  In  others  lotteries  were  conducted  to  erect  houses  and  pay 
teachers.  Tuition  fees  to  pay  part  cost  of  the  school  were  almost  uni- 
versal till  1850.  Until  1850,  and  in  some  towns  later,  the  schoolmasters 
of  country  towns  "boarded  around"  at  the  homes  of  the  pupils,  the  parents 
thereby  assuming  a  part  of  the  cost  of  the  school.  The  school  houses  of 
the  early  day  were  cheap  buildings,  usually  built  by  money  raised  by 
private  subscription.  So  general  was  tiie  practise  of  drawing  on  the 
finances  of  the  parents  for  the  total  or  partial  support  of  school  that  it 
may  be  stated  that  the  term,  an  absolutely  free  school,  as  now  understood, 
did  not  exist  in  any  New  England  town  prior  to  1800,  and  in  most  towns 
not  until  a  half  century  later. 

John  Howland  was  the  real  father  and  founder  of  the  public  school 
system  of  Rhode  Island.  Before  and  during  the  early  years  of  his  life, 
private  schools  only  existed,  and  those  mainly  for  boys  and  young  men. 
and  the  instructors  were  almost  invariably  men.  In  1789,  Mr.  Howland 
and  other  leading  men  of  Providence  formed  the  Mechanics  Association 
and  in  and  through  it  were  develoi)ed  the  principle  and  the  outline  plan 
of  free  public  education  for  all  the  children  of  all  the  people.  Mr.  How- 
land, born  in  Newport  in  1757.  knew  the  story  of  the  first  attempt  to 
found  a  free  school  in  that  town,  a  century  earlier,  and  he  also  knew  of 
its  failure  and  why.  lie  also  knew  what  Bishop  Berkeley  had  done  to 
encourage  general  education  and  as  a  boy  had  enjoyed  the  books  of  the 
Redwood  Library.  The  common  folks  needed  the  public  school  to  lift 
all  men  to  a  common  standard.  But  it  was  the  common  people,  he  tells 
us,  with  whom  the  common  school  idea  was  the  most  unpopular.  "We 
met  no  opposition  from  the  wealthy,  but  they  having  the  advantages  for 
their  sons  and  daughters  that  wealth  can  always  procure,  did  not  feel  as 
we  poor  mechanics  did."     Mr.  Howland  prepared  a  memorial   for  the 


672  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

General  Assembly  and  a  committee  was  chosen  to  prepare  a  bill  embody- 
ing a  general  school  system.  Hon.  James  Burrill,  Jr.,  by  the  aid  of  Mr. 
Howland,  drew  a  free  school  bill,  which  was  referred  to  the  towns.  Mr. 
Howland  now  made  a  campaign  in  the  chief  towns  and  won  Providence, 
Newport  and  Smithfield.  When  the  bill  was  taken  up  in  the  autumn  of 
1799  in  the  House  of  Representatives  it  passed  after  debate  and  much 
indifference  and  opposition.  The  bill  passed  the  Senate  in  February  at 
the  Providence  Session  of  the  Assembly  and  became  a  law  in  1800.  Thus 
a  great  triumph  was  achieved  by  a  man  of  faith  and  action,  and  although 
the  act  was  repealed  in  1803,  it  was  in  operation  long  enough  to  establish 
four  free  schools  in  Providence,  three  on  the  east  side  of  the  Providence 
river  and  one  on  the  west — a  movement  never  abandoned  by  the  town. 
Six  thousand  dollars  was  the  first  free  school  appropriation  of  Provi- 
dence for  the  annual  support  of  four  schools,  for  the  year  1800.  The  first 
town  school  committee  of  Providence  consisted  of  John  Howland,  Presi- 
dent Maxcy,  Rev.  Dr.  Gano,  Rev.  Dr.  Hitchcock,  David  L.  Barnes,  Jabez 
Bowen,  Amos  M.  Atwell,  James  Burrill,  Jr.,  D.  William  Jones  and  John 
Carlisle.  A  sub-committee  was  chosen  to  draw  up  rules,  the  literary  labor 
falling  to  Mr.  Howland.  "Up  to  this  time  I  had  never  seen  a  grammar,  a 
sorry  confession  for  a  school  committee  man,"  wrote  Howland,  as  gram- 
mar and  geography  had  never  been  taught  in  Providence. 

In  1820,  a  second  movement  began  for  a  State  system  of  public 
schools  by  a  resolution  passed  by  the  General  Assembly  "calling  on  the 
several  towns  for  information  on  the  subject  of  public  schools."  Provi- 
dence replied  that  she  had  five  public  school  houses  and  eight  hundred 
and  forty-six  pupils  under  instruction  at  a  cost  of  $3750.  Newport  had 
about  twenty  children  at  the  "Long  Wharf  Public  School,"  no  more. 
Newport,  in  1825,  "thought  it  advisable  that  the  education  of  males  should 
be  provided  for."  Alas,  no  school  for  girls !  Newport  asked  for  a  public 
lottery  to  raise  $10,000  for  a  school  fund,  and  was  refused  but  was  al- 
lowed to  raise  a  tax  of  $800  "for  educating  the  white  children  of  the 
town."  This  sum  was  spent  in  building  a  school  house  on  Mill  street,  in 
which  a  public  school  for  white  boys  was  opened  May  9,  1827,  on  the 
Lancasterian  plan.  A  school  for  girls  was  opened  in  Newport,  June  16, 
1828.  This  was  the  starting  point  of  the  modern  free  school  system  at 
Newport. 

In  1827,  Hon.  Joseph  L.  Tillinghast,  a  native  of  Taimton,  Massachu- 
setts, and  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly,  became  the  leader  in  urging 
the  establishment  of  a  free  school  system  in  Rhode  Island.  Memorials  for 
free  schools  were  sent  to  the  Assembly  from  Smithfield,  Cumberland, 
Johnston,  East  Greenwich  and  other  towns.  The  act,  drawn  by  Mr.  Til- 
linghast and  advocated  by  him,  became  a  law  at  the  January  Session  of 


EDUCATION  673 

the  Assembly  in  1828,  and  was  the  foundation  of  our  present  pubHc 
school  system.  Mr.  Tillinghast  was  a  lawyer  of  Providence,  a  member 
of  the  General  Assembly  from  Providence  for  several  years,  speaker  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  from  May,  1829,  to  October.  1832,  and  a 
member  of  the  United  States  House  of  Representatives  from  this  State 
from  September  4,  1837,  to  March  4,  1843.  "To  him,"  writes  Prof.  God- 
dard,  "more  than  to  any  other  public  man  should  be  ascribed  the  enduring 
honor  of  effecting  a  most  valuable  reform  in  the  judiciary  and  establish- 
ing on  a  more  liberal  foundation  a  system  of  popular  education  throughout 
the  State.  These  were  great  measures — and  for  them  Mr.  Tillinghast 
battled  manfully  against  an  array  of  talent  and  of  partisan  influence 
which  would  have  driven  from  his  purpose  a  less  intrepid  man." 

The  condition  of  education  in  Rhode  Island  in  1828  was  briefly 
stated,  thus : 

Population  in  1820:  Providence  county,  35,736;  Newport  county, 
15,771 ;  Washington  county,  15,667;  Kent  county,  10,228;  Bristol  county, 

5.637- 

Supposed  Number  of  Children  of  School  Age:  Providence  county, 
I5>3I5;  Newport  county,  6,527;  Washington  county,  7,093;  Kent  county, 
4,547;  Bristol  county,  2,361  ;  total  for  State,  35,843. 

Barrington :  This  town  belonged  to  Massachusetts,  until  1747,  when 
it  became  a  part  of  Rhode  Island.  It  was  "the  westward  end  of  Swansea," 
until  1 71 7,  when  it  was  set  ofT  from  that  town  and  incorporated.  The 
first  school  in  the  Barrington  end  of  old  Swansea  (in  1667)  was  in  1673. 
"This  town  (Swansea)  voted  to  establish  a  school  for  the  teaching  of 
grammar,  rhetoric,  and  the  tongues  of  Latin,  Greek  and  Hebrew,  also 
to  read  English  and  to  write,"  and  Rev.  John  Myles,  the  minister  of  the 
Baptist  church  founded  in  Barrington  in  1663,  was  chosen  schoolmaster, 
for  life,  at  a  salary  of  forty  pounds  a  year.  The  ambitious  program  of 
studies  and  the  ability  of  the  teacher  seem  to  rival  the  courses  at  Har- 
vard. Certain  it  is  that  Samuel  Myles,  rector  of  King's  Chapel,  Boston, 
and  a  graduate  of  Harvard  in  1684,  was  fitted  in  the  Grammar  School, 
taught  by  his  father,  on  Barrington  soil  before  1680.  Mr.  Myles  immed- 
iate successors  as  schoolmasters  were  Jonathan  Bosworth,  and  John  Devo- 
tion. In  Barrington  as  in  most  of  the  towns,  the  early  schools  were  held 
in  the  large  rooms  of  some  of  the  patrons  of  the  schools.  The  earliest 
schoolhouses  were  cheap  buildings  of  plainest  style. 

In  1828  Barrington  had  three  school  houses,  in  each  of  which  schools 
were  taught  for  from  six  to  seven  months,  in  two  terms,  winter  and 
summer.    Inhabitants, 

Bristol  was  a  part  of  Massachusetts  until  1747.    The  first  school  was 

R  I-4J 


674  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

taught  by  Samuel  Cobbitt  from  1685  to  1694.  Mr.  Cobbett  received  £24 
a  year.  In  1712,  tli*  town  expenses  were  £60,  £40  of  which  was  paid  to 
Master  Timothy  Fales.  In  1828  Bristol  liad  four  school  houses,  one  an 
academy,  with  two  schools  in  it.  There  were  five  men's  schools  in  winter, 
and  an  average  of  twelve  schools  through  the  year,  taught  by  women.  In- 
habitants, 1806. 

Burrillville,  cut  from  Glocester  in  1806,  dates  its  first  school  house 
built  in  that  year.  Earlier  schools  were  held  in  dwellings,  corn-cribs  and 
shops.  In  1828  there  were  eleven  school  houses,  schools  in  all  in  the 
winter,  averaging  40  pupils  each ;  one  summer  public  school  and  four  or 
five  private  schools.     Inhabitants  2164. 

The  first  school  building  in  Charlestown  was  erected  in  1815  and 
called  the  Narragansett  Indian  School  House.  Private  schools  had  been 
held  in  private  dwelling  houses.  In  1828,  the  town  had  but  one  school 
house — from  five  to  seven  schools  in  winter  and  three  in  summer,  the 
average  length  of  which  was  between  three  and  four  months.  The 
teachers  were  usually  incompetent.     Inhabitants  1160. 

The  first  school  house  in  Coventry  was  built  about  1766,  previous  to 
which  schools  were  kept  in  dwelling  houses,  children  often  going  two 
and  three  miles  to  school.  Teachers  were  not  well  qualified,  text  books 
few.  "Ciphering  books"  were  used  to  teach  arithmetic.  About  1776, 
three  houses  were  built  for  schools  and  religious  meetings.  They  were 
built  and  owned  by  proprietors.  In  1828,  there  were  ten  school  houses, 
with  fourteen  winter  schools  and  seven  in  the  summer.  Boys  only  at- 
tended in  the  winter. 

Cumberland  was  a  part  of  Attleboro,  Massachusetts,  until  1747.  In 
1S28,  the  town  was  divided  into  districts,  had  thirteen  school  houses,  with 
summer  and  winter  schools  in  all  and  well  attended. 

East  Greenwich ;  Kent  Academy  was  chartered  in  1802.  Prior  to 
1828,  there  had  been  no  public  schools,  but  five  private  schools,  holding 
in  all  ten  sessions  a  year.     Inhabitants,  15 19. 

Exeter  had  three  school  houses  for  winter  schools  in  1828;  no  others. 
Inhabitants  2581. 

Foster  had  fifteen  school  houses,  all  used  in  winter  and  most  in  sum- 
mer.    Population  2000. 

Glocester  had  no  public  schools  prior  to  1828.  It  reported  eleven 
houses  and  fifteen  winter  schools,  all  probably  private  and  held  in  private 
or  proprietors'  buildings.     Population  2504. 

Hopkinton  had  nine  school  houses  with  winter  schools  in  all ;  sum- 
mer schools  in  villages.    Population  1821. 

In  Jamestown,  the  first  traditional  school  house  was  built  of  stone 
about  1750;  the  first  of  record  was  built  in  December,  1802;  the  first 


EDUCATION  67s 

schools  were  kept  in  private  houses.  In  1828  there  were  three  school 
houses,  with  schools  in  two  only  in  the  winter.    Population  448. 

In  Johnston  there  was  little  interest  in  public  education.  There  were 
five  school  houses ;  si.x  or  seven  schools  in  the  winter  and  two  or  three 
in  summer.     Population  1542. 

Middletown  had  five  school  houses  with  regular  winter  and  irregular 
summer  schools.  Population  949.  The  early  history  of  the  town  as  a 
part  of  the  town  of  Newport  shows  a  creditable  record  as  to  education, 
especially  in  behalf  of  poor  children.  In  general  it  may  be  stated  that  the 
children  of  well-to-do  families  secured  a  fair  knowledge  of  arithmetic, 
geography,  reading  and  spelling,  with  a  little  knowledge  of  the  rules  of 
grammar  and  penmanship. 

New  Shoreham  was  slow  in  establishing  schools.  In  1828  there  was 
but  one  school  house.  Four  schools  kept  four  months  in  winter  and  in 
summer  gave  instruction  to  120  children.    Population  955. 

In  North  Kingstown,  private  schools  served  the  demands  of  the 
people  until  the  public  school  law  of  1828.  In  1800,  there  was  not  a 
school  house  in  the  town  and  the  first  ones  built  in  1806,  1808  and  later 
were  owned  by  private  school  men.  Washington  Academy,  chartered  in 
1800,  was  started  in  1802  at  Wickford  with  seven  scholars.  The  trustees 
of  this  Academy  included  many  of  the  leading  citizens  of  Rhode  Island. 
Among  whom  were  Nicholas  Brown,  Gov.  John  Brown  Francis,  Ray 
Greene,  Asher  Robbins,  Christopher  G.  Champlin,  Thomas  P.  Ives  and 
others  of  note  and  influence.  This  Academy  was  a  bright  light  in  a  dark 
corner  of  the  State.  In  1828,  this  town  reported  Elam  (Washington) 
Academy,  one  private  school,  one  school  house,  in  all  six  schools.  Pop- 
ulation 3007. 

North  Providence  had  an  academy  and  seven  school  houses  and  four 
other  schools  in  the  Pawtucket  section,  eleven  schools  in  all  kept  open  but 
part  of  the  year.     Population  2420. 

Portsmouth  began  well  in  1638,  but  lapsed  into  indifference  with  the 
general  decline  in  New  England.  In  1828  it  had  four  school  houses  of 
the  usual  type,  in  which  schools  were  kept  quite  regularly  in  winter, 
but  in  only  one  or  two  in  summer.     Population,  1,645. 

Richmond  has  the  usual  record  of  private  schools  in  private  dwell- 
ings or  buildings  loaned  for  school  purposes.  In  1828  it  reported  two 
school  houses  and  a  well  attended  Sunday  school.     Population,  1,423. 

Mr.  Barnard  found  in  a  school  in  Richmond  a  boy  born  in  1827  by 
the  name  of  Thomas  Alexander  TefFt,  "who  was  wasting  his  time  in  draw- 
ing pictures."  He  graduated  at  Brown  University,  became  a  noted  archi- 
tect, having  won  an  international  name  before  his  death  in  1859. 

Scituate  owes  its  educational  reputation  to  the  establishment  of  an 


676  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

academy  at  North  Scituate  in  1839,  with  Rev.  Hosea  Qiiimby  as  first 
principal.  The  town  reported  five  school  houses  in  1828,  with  little  inter- 
est in  public  education.     Population,  2,834. 

Smithfield  in  1800  was  called  upon  to  establish  "so  many  free  schools 
as  shall  be  equivalent  to  three  such  schools  six  months  in  the  year,"  but  it 
did  not  do  it.  Later  and  before  1828,  there  were  thirteen  school  houses  in 
the  town,  two  being  academies  at  Woonsocket  and  Slatersville ;  in  all, 
nineteen  schools.    Population,  4,678. 

South  Kingstown  had  an  academy  and  seven  school  houses,  in  which 
summer  and  winter  schools  were  kept.     Population,  3,723. 

Tiverton,  a  town  of  old  Plymouth  Colony,  had  ten  school  houses,  in 
which  schools  were  kept  quite  regularly  in  summer  and  winter.  Popula- 
tion, 2,875. 

Warren,  originally  a  part  of  old  Swansea  enjoyed  the  early  teaching 
services  of  F'arson  John  Myles,  at  Kickemuit.  Brown  University  was 
started  in  an  academic  school  at  Warren  in  1764,  taught  by  Rev.  James 
Manning,  minister  of  the  Baptist  church.  In  1828  Warren  had  a  semi- 
nary for  girls  and  four  school  houses.  The  town  had  an  excellent  record 
for  good  summer  and  private  schools.    Population,  1,806. 

The  first  school  house  of  record  in  Warwick  was  built  in  old  Warwick 
about  1716  and  was  used  as  a  school  house  for  religious  meetings  and 
town  meetings.  In  1798  a  school  house  was  built  near  Crompton  at  a  cost 
of  $200 — an  average  cost  of  most  of  the  school  houses  in  the  State.  In 
1803  a  building  was  erected  at  Centreville  for  school  and  religfious  pur- 
poses. In  1828  the  town  was  credited  with  seven  school  houses  with  male 
teachers  and  six  schools  with  female  teachers ;  in  all,  sixteen  schools. 
Population,  3,643. 

In  West  Greenwich  two  school  houses  had  been  built  by  subscription 
prior  to  1828.  Eleven  schools  had  winter  terms  of  three  months  and  three 
of  that  number  had  summer  schools.     Population,  1,927. 

Westerly  had  six  school  houses  open  both  summer  and  winter.  An 
academy  in  that  town  and  one  at  Pawcatuck  furnished  instruction  in  sev- 
eral high  school  branches.  Teachers  came  from  Connecticut  for  the 
border  towns  of  Rhode  Island.     Population,  1,972. 

This  brief  review  of  the  situation  of  educational  affairs  in  the  Rhode 
Island  towns  reveals  a  few  significant  facts.  It  is  clear  that  the  people  had 
failed  to  recognize  the  free  school  idea  as  essential  to  individual  develop- 
ment or  civic  prosperity.  Private  school  education  for  a  few  and  of  a 
very  limited  quantity  and  quality  was  in  vogue.  The  necessity  of  educat- 
ing all  the  children,  of  rich  and  poor  alike,  at  the  public  expense  was  not 
generally  accepted  as  the  duty  of  town  and  Commonwealth.  The  people, 
on  tlae  whole,  were  poor.    The  farmer  class,  then  in  the  majority,  saw  no 


EDUCATION  677 

need  of  an  education  beyond  the  three  R's — the  simplest  elements  of  cipher- 
ing, writing,  reading  and  spelhng.  An  ambition  to  go  beyond  this  [)opular 
estimate  of  a  necessary  modicum  of  learning  was  not  evidence  of  a  normal 
mind  or  a  hcaltliy  body.  To  send  a  boy  to  college  seemed  the  spoiling  of 
a  good  farmer,  carpenter,  storekeejxT  or  workman  of  any  sort.  Sissified 
boys  might  make  ministers,  but  never  good  business  men. 

The  standard  of  education  among  the  common  peojile  of  Rhode 
Island,  if  it  may  be  called  a  standard,  was  a  low  and  mercenary  one. 
Efficiency  for  elementary  service  is  a  motive  for  earning  a  livelihood,  but 
not  for  civic,  social  or  moral  advancement.  Cheap  school  houses  or  none 
at  all,  short  school  terms,  unqualified  persons  hired  to  teach,  few  text- 
books, few  aids,  no  methods — physical  force  in  school  government — un- 
qualified school  officials,  small  amount  of  money  devoted  to  education — 
all  evidence  a  low  public  sentiment  and  show  the  necessity  of  a  great 
awakening  in  district  town  and  State.  The  Tillinghast  act  of  1828  was 
the  first  evidence  of  an  arousement  of  the  people  to  their  duties  in  the 
education  of  their  children.  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  had  just 
begim  to  feel  the  power  of  a  new  revival  in  elementary  education.  Rhode 
Island  stood  between  these  two  forces  and  could  not  long  resist  their 
influence  over  her  own  moral  and  educational  life. 

The  school  law  of  1828  provided  that  all  money  arising  from  lotteries, 
flowing  into  the  State  treasury,  and  all  money  paid  by  auctioneers  be  de- 
voted to  "the  exclusive  purpose  of  keeping  public  schools" — the  sums  to 
be  paid  to  the  towns  not  to  exceed  $10,000  in  any  one  year.  The  towns, 
by  a  majority  vote,  could  not  exceed  double  the  amount  received  from  the 
State.  The  towns  were  to  elect  school  committees  of  not  less  than  five  nor 
more  than  twenty  in  each  town  to  have  the  full  control  of  the  schools,  hire 
teachers,  establish  rules  and  make  an  annual  report  to  the  town.  John 
Howland  called  this  act  a  law  "for  the  discouragement  of  schools,"  inas- 
much as  it  passed  the  General  Assembly  "by  the  influences  of  members 
who  were  opposed  to  the  general  instruction  of  children  throughout  the 
State,  and  wished  to  confine  it  to  paupers."  At  that  time  there  were  ten 
academies  and  one  hundred  and  eighty-one  school  houses  in  the  State, 
with  two  hundred  and  sixty-two  winter  schools  and  an  expenditure  of 
about  $25,000. 

Prior  to  1828  the  towns  were  isolated,  acting  independently  and 
usually  very  parsimoniously  in  the  support  of  schools.  One  valuable  re- 
sult of  the  law  was  to  establish  some  of  the  elements  of  a  State  system  of 
public  schools,  and  thereby  to  recognize  the  principle  that  the  education  of 
the  children  was  not  only  a  duty  but  a  necessity  of  a  free  State.  The 
wealthy  towns  were  the  first  to  adopt  the  progressive  educational  move- 
ment:  the  poorer  and  conservative  towns  awaited  the  new  era  and  uplift. 
Providence  took  the  lead  in  public  school  matters.    In  1832  an  amendment 


678  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

to  the  law  required  the  school  money  of  the  State  to  be  distributed  "accord- 
ing to  the  number  of  the  white  population  under  fifteen  years,  the  colored 
population  under  ten  years,  together  with  five- fourteenths  of  the  said 
population  between  ten  and  twenty-four  years."  A  more  refined  subtle 
and  incomprehensible  plan  cannot  be  imagined. 

Providence  was  incorporated  a  city  in  1832.  It  first  mayor,  Samuel 
W.  Bridgham,  was  an  ardent  supporter  of  free  schools,  and  as  chairman 
of  the  school  committee  was  a  constant  force  for  their  upbuilding.  On 
the  first  school  committee  the  city  elected  President  Asa  Messer,  of  Brown 
University;  Dexter  Thurber,  Robert  H.  and  Moses  Ives,  John  H.  Orms- 
bee,  W.  T.  Grinnell  and  others  of  that  nobility  class.  A  high  school  was 
soon  called  for.  The  Mechanics'  Association,  the  first  advocate  of  free 
schools,  was  an  active  force  in  the  educational  propaganda.  J.  L.  Hughes, 
Simon  Henry  Greene,  Amherst  Everett  and  Seth  Radelford,  Dr.  E.  B. 
Hall,  Thomas  W.  Dorr,  William  G.  Goddard,  George  Curtis,  Hezekiah 
Anthony,  Jesse  Metcalf  and  twenty  more  of  the  leading  citizens  of  Provi- 
dence were  shaping  the  educational  policy  and  directing  the  practical 
affairs  of  the  city  schools,  and  under  their  guidance  a  high  school  was  an 
absolute  assurance,  though  combatted  by  the  opinions  that  a  high  school 
was  "an  aristocratic  institution,"  that  it  was  "uncon,stitutional  to  tax  prop- 
erty for  a  city  college,"  that  "it  would  educate  children  above  working  for 
their  support,"  and  that  "a  poor  boy  or  girl  would  never  be  seen  in  it," 
and  "a  high  school  would  be  an  excrescence  on  the  school  system."  Not- 
withstanding their  dreadful  portents,  a  great  majority  of  the  taxpayers 
had  voted  for  a  high  school,  a  building  was  erected  at  the  corners  of  Bene- 
fit, Angell  and  Waterman  streets,  and  was  opened  on  Monday,  March  20, 
1843,  with  one  hundred  and  sixty-four  pupils — eighty  boys  and  eighty- 
four  girls.  The  establishment  of  the  high  school  in  Providence  was  the 
third  act  in  the  public  school  movement,  the  second  having  been  the  elec- 
tion of  a  city  superintendent  of  public  schools  in  1839,  in  the  person  of 
Nathan  Bishop,  a  graduate  of  Brown  University  in  the  class  of  1837,  and 
at  the  date  of  his  election  a  tutor  at  Brown.  He  conducted  the  schools  so 
successfully  that  he  remained  in  office  until  1851,  when  he  was  called  to 
Boston,  where  he  was  city  superintendent  until  1858.  Providence  was  the 
first  city  in  the  United  States  to  elect  a  school  superintendent.  Thomas 
W.  Dorn,  a  man  of  historic  interest  was  chairman  of  the  school  board  of 
Providence,  1841-42,  during  the  building  of  the  high  school  house. 

The  first  reports,  giving  any  precise  knowledge  of  school  affairs,  was 
prepared  by  Mr.  Oliver  Angell,  a  veteran  Providence  schoolmaster,  under 
date  of  May  17,  1832.  It  showed  three  hundred  and  twenty-three  public 
schools,  with  17,034  pupils,  under  the  instruction  of  three  hundred  and 
eighteen  men  and  one  hundred  and  forty-seven  women.  Twenty  schools 
continued  the  whole  year ;  the  balance  averaged  three  months.    The  State 


EDUCATION  679 

gave  $10,000  and  the  towns  raised  $11,490 — a  total  of  $2i,4<)0  spent  for 
public  education.  The  report  showed  two  hundred  and  sixty-nine  private 
schools,  but  these  may  have  been  the  continuance  of  the  public  schools  by 
private  subscriptions.  It  was  estimated  that  $68,040  was  spent  on  the  pri- 
vate school  instruction  of  3,403  pupils,  with  total  of  $102,865  spent  for 
education,  public  and  private,  for  the  year. 

In  1844  the  number  of  scholars  in  public  schools  was  22,156,  under 
four  hundred  and  twenty-eight  men  and  three  hundred  and  forty-two 
women  teachers — the  State  expending  $25,o<)5  and  the  towns  adding 
$33,323.  Thus  a  substantial  gain  had  been  made  in  twelve  years,  but  not 
in  any  degree  so  rapid  as  had  been  the  progress  in  our  border  States,  where 
Horace  Mann,  in  Massachusetts,  and  Henry  Barnard,  in  Connecticut, 
had  aroused  the  people  to  a  truer  value  of  public  education. 

In  October,  1843,  Hon.  VVilldns  Updyke,  a  member  of  the  General 
Assembly  from  South  Kingstown,  introduced  a  bill,  which  passed  unani- 
mously, authorizing  the  Governor  to  employ  an  agent  to  examine  and  re- 
port on  the  condition  of  common  school  education  in  the  State.  On  De- 
cember 6,  1843,  Governor  James  Fenner  announced  that  he  had  secured 
the  services  of  Henry  Barnard,  of  Connecticut,  as  the  educational  agent 
of  the  State,  who  would  enter  immediately  on  the  duties  of  his  office.  This 
was  the  first  great  decisive  step  taken  by  the  State,  and  so  strong  was  the 
sentiment  of  the  leading  citizens  of  Rhode  Island  in  favor  of  progressive 
action  that  a  cordial  welcome  was  given  Mr.  Barnard  and  the  direction  of 
educational  legislation  and  the  conduct  of  the  schools  committed  to  his 
guidance. 

Mr.  Barnard  was  well  qualified  for  the  pioneer  work  to  be  done.  He 
was  then  thirty-three  years  old,  in  the  full  vigor  of  early  manhood,  an 
idealist,  interested  in  social  reforms,  with  an  early  identification  with  the 
work  of  Horace  Mann,  in  Massachusetts,  and  conversant  with  educational 
progress  in  England,  France,  Switzerland  and  Germany.  His  native 
State  had  recognized  his  ability  and  enthusiasm  and  had  employed  him  as 
secretary  of  the  Board  of  Education,  wherein  he  had  gained  experiences 
fitting  him  for  the  Rhode  Island  field,  in  which  he  labored  with  great 
fidelity  and  success  for  five  years.  Mr.  Barnard's  great  forte  was  that  of 
an  educational  publicist,  and  his  chief  life-work  was  the  voluminous 
library  of  educational  material,  styled  Barnard's  Journal  of  Education, 
which  w^as  published  at  the  cost  of  his  own  private  fortune.  This  work 
was  begim  in  Rhode  Island.  Mr.  Barnard  instituted  public  meetings  in  all 
parts  of  the  State,  published  and  distributed  literature,  held  institutes  and 
organized  the  district  system,  which  served  a  temporary  end  in  enlisting  a 
great  number  of  people  through  the  multiplicity  of  school  officers.  The 
school  law  of  1845  expressed  Mr.  Barnard's  ideas  as  to  a  public  school  sys- 
tem and  was  carried  through  the  General  Assembly  by  Mr.  Updike.    This 


68o  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

law  created  the  office  of  Commissioner  of  Public  Schools  and  established 
and  elaborated  the  district  system,  abolished  thirty  years  later. 

While  Mr.  Barnard  was  a  whole-souled  educational  reformer  and 
drew  to  his  support  the  best  men  and  women  of  the  State,  in  organization 
and  executive  ability  he  was  supremely  deficient — a  defect  which  limited 
his  career  in  Rhode  Island  to  five  years  and  marked  the  whole  of  his  sub- 
sequent life-work.  Mr.  Barnard  was  an  ardent  admirer  and  close  follower 
of  Horace  Mann  and  a  study  of  the  philosophy  and  methods  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts educator  will  reveal  the  sources  of  Mr.  Barnard's  plans  and 
operations. 

Mr.  Barnard's  successor  was  Elisha  R.  Potter,  of  South  Kingstown, 
a  warm  friend  and  supporter  of  Mr.  Barnard,  who  held  the  office  from 
1849  to  1854.  He  brought  to  the  work  a  legally  trained  mind  and  a  clear 
educational  vision.  As  a  native  Rhode  Islander,  he  knew  the  character 
and  spirit  of  the  people  and  his  judicial  mind  was  a  powerful  corrective 
of  false  and  superficial  theories  and  methods.  Mr.  Potter's  great  work 
was  found  in  codifying  the  school  law,  in  legal  decisions  of  school  ques- 
tions, the  advocacy  and  establishment  of  a  State  Normal  School  and  the 
discussion  and  decision  of  the  religious  question  in  public  schools.  The 
use  of  the  Bible  and  the  practice  of  prayer  in  public  schools  were  sub- 
jected to  Constitutional  tests,  and  the  conclusions  of  Mr.  Potter  have  stood 
all  later  objections.  His  administration  stilled  the  chief  opponents  of  a 
public  school  system,  and  set  forces  in  operation  of  conservative  value  to 
its  permanency. 

Rev.  Robert  Allyn,  principal  of  the  East  Greenwich  Academy,  held 
the  office  from  1854  to  1857.  Mr.  Allyn  was  a  thorough  educator,  teacher, 
thoroughly  attached  to  the  common  schools  of  the  State.  He  devoted 
much  of  his  time  to  town  visitation  of  schools,  giving  public  addresses  and 
holding  institutes.  He  also  edited  the  Rhode  Island  Schoolmaster.  In 
1856  he  reported  "that  less  than  half  the  children  of  school  age  were  in 
school  at  any  one  time,"  the  percentage  of  enrollment  being  sixty-nine 
per  cent,  and  the  attendance  forty-eight  and  two-thirds  per  cent.  In  1857 
he  reports  that  the  school  enrollment  was  seven  hundred  and  sixty-one 
less  than  in  1852,  while  the  increase  of  taxation  had  been  nearly  forty-two 
per  cent,  and  the  growth  of  population  had  been  seven  per  cent.  He 
seems,  even  in  these  figures,  quite  misleading,  for  his  optimistic  temper 
enables  him  to  declare  the  school  system  of  the  State  a  model  one  and 
charges  the  faults  and  weaknesses  of  the  schools  to  the  prodigious  increase 
of  child  labor  in  manufacturing  industries  and  the  influx  of  a  large  popu- 
lation of  foreign  born  parents  and  children.  Mr.  .A.llyn  was  a  thorough 
and  conscientious  worker  and  was  held  in  high  esteem  by  the  teachers  and 
school  officers  of  the  State.  He  retired  from  office  with  the  administra- 
tion of  Governor  W.  W.  Hoppins. 


EDUCATION  68i 

Witli  the  advent  of  Governor  Elisha  Dyer,  in  1857,  the  new  school 
officer  was  John  Kingsbury,  of  Providence,  who  had  for  many  years  con- 
ducted a  secondary  school  for  young  ladies,  in  which  he  had  won  high 
rank  as  an  educator.  Mr.  Kingsbury  had  been  a  co-worker  with  Mr. 
Barnard  and  an  efficient  aid  to  his  successor.  He  was  a  man  of  excellent 
scholarshi]),  and  well  acc|uainted  with  teachers,  text-books  and  methods  of 
his  time.  He  was  conservative  in  thought  and  action,  courteous  in  i)ro- 
fessional  conduct,  calm,  quiet  and  dignified  in  address.  Mr.  Kingsbury 
was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  American  Institute  of  Instruction  in  1830, 
and  president  from  1855  to  1857.  He  was  also  president  of  the  Rhode 
Island  Institute  of  Instruction  from  1845  to  1856.  No  educator  of  the 
State  was  better  qualified  for  the  position  and  to  the  advancement  of  pub- 
lic education,  he  gave  himself,  in  a  thorough  inspection  of  school  houses, 
schools,  methods  of  teaching,  teachers  qualifications,  etc.,  etc.  With  the 
exception  of  three  or  four  districts,  he  visited  every  school  and  carefully 
noted  conditions  in  every  school  house  in  the  State.  His  report  as  to  the 
state  of  school  houses  in  the  State  is  a  valuable  contribution  to  the  history 
of  education.  Mr.  Kingsbury  was  a  wise  advisor  of  school  officers  and 
teachers  and  his  addresses  in  the  .schools  and  to  school  patrons  stimulated 
and  encouraged  both  to  higher  standards.  "Rhode  Island  has  done  well," 
he  wrote.  "She  takes  a  high  rank  among  her  sister  States  in  furnishing 
the  inestimable  privilege  of  a  good  common  school  education  to  every 
child  in  the  State.  *  *  *  A  large  number  of  our  school  houses  are 
creditable  specimens  of  school  architecture.  They  are  commodious,  well 
arranged,  well  adopted  to  school  purposes,  furnished  with  maps,  black- 
boards and  other  conveniences,  and  some  of  them  are  beautifully  located 
with  good  grounds  adorned  with  shade  trees."  Further,  he  contrasts  the 
school  houses  and  dwelling  houses  in  some  tow-ns,  where  the  dwellings 
and  outbuildings  are  sumptuous  and  the  school  houses  are  the  poorest. 
Where  such  conditions  existed,  the  Commissioner  concluded  that  the  real 
want  was  a  knowledge  of  the  true  manner  of  using  wealth. 

Called  to  the  presidency  of  the  Providence  Washington  Insurance 
Company,  Mr.  Kingsbury  resigned  the  office  to  the  great  regret  of  edu- 
cators and  people  at  the  end  of  two  years  of  valuable  and  appreciated  work 
for  common  schools. 

Dr.  Joshua  Hicknell  Chapin  occupied  the  Commissioner's  chair  dur- 
ing two  terms,  from  1859  to  1861,  and  from  iSfiT,  to  1869.  Dr.  Chapin 
was  an  accomplished  scholar,  a  close  reasoner  and  an  able  advocate  of 
public  education.  In  intellectual  ability  few  men  of  his  day  were  better 
qualified  for  the  exalted  office  of  Commissioner.  In  his  reports  he  showed 
the  evils  of  the  district  system,  called  attention  to  the  importance  of  Nor- 
mal School  training  for  teachers,  commended  the  superior  teaching  power 
of  women  to  men.    He  said:    "I  am  free  to  say  that  two-thirds  of  all  the 


682  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

schools  which  I  have  visited,  taught  by  males,  would  be  better  taught,  and 
better  disciplined,  too,  by  females."  He  urged  better  pay  for  female 
teachers,  urging  that  for  the  same  grade  of  service  the  pay  for  male  and 
females  should  be  equal.  He  also  advocated  better  pay  for  all  teachers  of 
all  grades  and  both  sexes.  He  commended  the  more  reasonable  methods 
of  school  discipline.  His  decisions  on  school  questions  showed  a  fine 
judicial  ability  and  a  clear  knowledge  of  school  law  and  evidence.  His 
addresses  on  educational  themes  were  examples  of  thorough  and  exact 
knowledge,  close  reasoning  and  honest  convictions  of  truth.  He  was 
unsparing  of  severe  criticism  of  false  and  old  fogy  methods  and  of  the 
cheap  tricks  of  shallow  pretenders.  His  idealism  as  to  the  possibilities  of 
the  work  of  the  public  school  far  outran  existing  results,  and  his  hearty 
approval  of  the  good  always  pointed  the  way  to  the  goal  of  the  better  and 
the  best.  He  was  not  as  popular  as  his  predecessor,  Mr.  Kingsbury,  but 
he  was  equally  industrious,  conscientious  and  worthy. 

Henry  Rousmaniere  was  the  appointee  of  Governor  William  Sprague, 
holding  office  for  two  years  and  retiring  with  the  Spragiie  regime.  Mr. 
Rousmaniere  was  a  business  man  and  prior  to  his  elevation  was  in  Gov- 
ernor Sprague's  employ.  He  claimed  no  special  qualifications  for  the 
work  of  education,  either  in  ability  or  scholarship  and  represented  Gov- 
ernor Sprague's  idea  that  the  schools  needed  a  business  man's  qualifica- 
tions rather  than  a  trained  educator's.  This  was  Governor  Sprague's  con- 
ceit and  he  followed  it,  to  the  great  disappointment  of  the  school  officers  of 
the  State,  and  finally  to  his  own.  Mr.  Rousmaniere  filled  the  office  to  the 
best  of  his  abilities  as  a  trained  bookkeeper  and  accountant  and  illustrated 
the  fact  he  was  the  best  Commissioner  necessity  knew  how  to  produce. 
He  entered  on  the  high  office,  conscious  of  his  ignorance  of  its  require- 
ments, to  satisfy  a  friend.  At  the  end  of- two  years  he  left  it,  self-satisfied, 
with  the  full  approval  of  the  people.  It  was  the  first  time  that  the  office  of 
Commissioner  of  Public  Schools  was  used  to  pay  a  political  debt.  Let  it 
be  hoped  it  was  the  last  and  only  time. 

Mr.  Thomas  W.  Bicknell,  of  Barrington,  succeeded  his  cousin,  Dt. 
Joshua  Bicknell  Chapin,  as  Commissioner,  holding  the  office  from  June 
I,  1869,  to  his  resignation,  January  i,  1875,  to  become  editor  and  pub- 
lisher of  the  New  England  Journal  of  Education  in  Boston,  Massachu- 
setts. Modesty  denies  the  privilege  of  criticising  or  commending  this  ad- 
ministration of  the  public  schools  of  Rhode  Island.  The  following  resume 
of  Mr.  Bicknell's  labors  is  from  the  pen  of  Hon.  Thomas  Wentworth 
Higginson,  of  Newport,  in  the  "Centennial  Report  on  Education  in  Rhode 
Island." 

The  writer  may  state  that  he  had  led  a  student  life  from  the  old-time 
district  school  in  his  native  town,  Barrington ;  that  during  his  senior  year 


EDUCATION  683 

in  Brown  University,  1859-60,  he  had  occupied  a  seat  in  the  House  of 
Representatives,  elected  thereto  by  his  native  town ;  that  he  advocated 
educational  measures  in  the  debates  of  the  House,  especially  the  bill  for 
the  abolition  of  the  separate  schools  for  colored  children;  that  he  had 
been  a  teacher  of  public  and  private  and  evening  schools  for  twelve  years, 
including  six  years  as  principal  of  the  high  school  at  Bristol ;  that  he  had 
been  an  associate  editor  of  The  Rhode  Island  Schoolmaster ;  that  he  had 
been  president  of  the  Rhode  Island  Institute  for  two  years  and  had  con- 
ducted teachers'  and  peoples'  institutes  in  various  parts  of  the  State ;  that 
he  had  been  a  member  of  a  State  committee  to  aid  in  reestablishing  the 
State  Xonnal  School,  which  had  expired  in  1866  and  that  he  had  been  an 
assistant  to  Mr.  Kingsbury  and  Dr.  Chapin  in  the  office  of'  Commissioner 
of  Public  Schools,  when  it  was  located  in  a  single  room  in  the  rear  on  the 
second  floor  of  the  building,  No.  19  Westminster  street,  Providence, 
Rhode  Island.  Mr.  Bicknell  entered  on  his  labors  as  Commissioner  from 
the  principalship  of  the  Bristol  High  School  and  for  two  years  had  no 
office  assistant,  as  his  predecessors  had  had  none.  When  he  was  out  of 
town,  the  office  was  closed.  He  entered  the  office  in  the  thirty-fourth  year 
of  his  age  and  resigned  it  in  his  fortieth.  The  following  quotations  are 
from  the  History  of  Rhode  Island  Schools,  by  Colonel  Higginson : 

Dr.  Chapin  was  succeeded  in  June.  1869,  by  T.  W.  Bicknell,  Esq.,  in 
whose  reports  we  begin  at  once  to  see  that  greater  thoroughness  and 
method  which  we  are  now  accustomed  to  e.xpect  in  such  documents.  For 
the  first  time,  in  connection  with  his  first  report,  every  town  published  its 
school  report  in  full.  The  various  points  of  school  discipline,  absenteeism, 
truancy,  normal  instruction  and  school  supervision  were  not  only  discussed 
in  the  main  document,  but  illustrated  from  the  local  experience  of  diflFer- 
ent  towns.  Mr.  Bicknell  at  once  urged  the  creation  of  a  State  Board  of 
Education  and  the  reestablishment  of  the  Normal  School.  Both  these 
measures  were  almost  immediately  carried,  the  former  in  1870  and  the 
latter  in  1871.  *  *  * 

By  his  annual  reports  and  personal  efforts.  Mr.  Bicknell  also  did 
much  as  to  procuring  liberal  legislation  on  public  libraries,  as  to  the  exten- 
sion of  the  term  of  school  committeemen  from  one  to  three  years  and  as 
to  the  legal  authorization  of  a  school  superintendent  for  every  town.  As 
Providence  was  the  first  city  in  New  England  to  appoint  (in  1838)  a  city 
superintendent,  it  was  appropriate  that  the  State  should  also  be  promi- 
nent in  wise  legislation  on  this  point.  Mr.  Bicknell  also  urged  the  appoint- 
ment on  school  committees  of  a  reasonable  proportion  of  experienced  and 
intelligent  women,  mentioning  one  town  in  the  State  (Tiverton)  where 
the  committee  had  consisted  wholly  of  women,  with  favorable  results. 
He  collected  data  as  to  evening  schools  from  different  towns  in  the  State. 
He  fearlessly  presented  the  facts  as  to  illiteracy  in  Rhode  Island.  (See 
report  for  January,  1872,  page  34).  *  *  * 

Mr.  Bicknell  proposed  remedies  for  illiteracy: 


684  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

1.  Excellent  public  schools. 

2.  An  intelligent  and  interested  public  sentiment,  strongly  positive 
in  favor  of  public  education. 

3.  The  enforcement  of  a  law  vi'hich  shall  not  allow  a  child  to  be 
employed  in  a  manufacturing  establishment  under  twelve  years  of  age. 

4.  The  enforcement  of  a  law  requiring  the  children  employed  in  the 
manufacturing  establishments  of  our  State  to  attend  school  at  least  five 
months  in  each  year. 

5.  A  truant  and  vagrant  law,  by  which  every  child  between  the  ages 
of  six  and  sixteen  years,  not  attending  any  school  or  without  any  regular 
or  lawful  occupation,  or  growing  up  in  ignorance,  may  be  committed  to 
some  suitable  institution,  or  bound  as  an  apprentice  at  some  good  home, 
for  the  purpose  of  gaining  the  rudiments  of  an  education  and  of  learning 
some  useful  trade. 

6.  The  establishment  of  evening  schools  in  every  town,  for  the  bene- 
fit of  all  persons  over  sixteen  years  of  age,  who  may  desire  to  attend. 

7.  A  constitutional  enactment,  which  shall  require  of  every  person 
who  shall  possess  a  franchise  in  the  State,  a  certificate  of  his  ability  to 
read  and  write.  *  *  * 

In  Mr.  Ricknell's  last  report,  he  devotes  especial  attention  to  the  sub- 
ject of  drawing  in  schools  and  urges  reasons  why  it  has  peculiar  impor- 
tance for  the  Rhode  Island  system.     (See  report  for  year  1874).  *  *  * 

These  remarks  deserve  especial  prominence,  inasmuch  as  the  introduc- 
tion of  drawing  into  the  schools  is  a  reform  still  to  be  effected  throughout 
the  State  as  a  whole,  Newport  being  the  only  place  where  it  is  yet  taught 
systematically. 

*  *  *  After  six  years  of  eminently  useful  service,  Mr.  Bicknell  re- 
tired from  office  in  January,  1875,  'n  order  to  assume  the  editorship  of 
The  New  England  Journal  of  Education.  The  best  verdict  on  his 
labors  was  that  pronounced  by  the  Board  of  Education  in  saying  that 
he  had  labored  for  the  schools  "with  a  diligence,  a  ivisdom,  and  a  con- 
tagious enthusiasm,  zvhich,  it  is  believed,  have  resulted  in  lasting  benefit 
to  the  cause  with  zvhich  his  name  is  identified." 

Writing  in  the  third  person,  Mr.  Bicknell  sums  up  his  administration 
of  the  public  schools  briefly  as  follows : 

A.  The  creation  of  a  State  Board  of  Education. 

B.  Placing  Rhode  Island  at  the  head  of  the  column  of  American 
States  in  length  of  school  year — thirty-five  weeks  and  three  days. 

C.  Appropriations  by  towns  and  State  for  public  schools,  quad- 
rupled in  six  years. 

D.  Enactment  of  a  law  requiring  all  towns  to  elect  a  paid  superin- 
tendent of  schools. 

E.  Terms  of  school  committees  fixed  at  three  years. 

F.  The  establishment  of  evening  schools. 

G.  The  establishment  of  public  libraries. 

H.    The  dedication  of  about  one  hundred  new  school  houses. 
I.      The  advocacy  of  drawing  in  the  public  schools. 
J.      Raising  the  Rhode  Island  Institute  to  the  first  rank  in  institute 
attendance  and  work. 


EDUCATION  685 

K.  Teachers'  institutes  and  many  educational  addresses  in  all  parts 
of  Rhode  Island. 

L.  His  greatest  work,  tlic  most  difficult  in  accomplishing  and  the 
most  far-reaching  in  its  results,  was  the  founding  of  the  State  N'ormal 
School  at  Providence,  September  6,  1871.  Professor  Gtorge  \V.  Greene, 
the  historian,  a  resident  of  East  Greenwich,  was  a  representative  from  that 
town  in  the  General  Assembly  and  chairman  of  the  House  Committee  on 
Education.  He  wrote  to  Mr.  Picknicll :  "The  nature  and  extent  of  your 
services  in  founding  the  Normal  School  of  Rhode  Island  cannot  be  over- 
stated and  may  be  told  in  a  single  sentence.  But  for  you  the  work  ivould 
net'cr  have  been  done:  at  least,  not  for  many  years.  There  were  formidot- 
ble  prejudices  to  be  overcome  and  conflictiiu/  opinions  to  be  reconciled. 
As  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Education,  I  have  every  opportunity  of 
observing  the  zeal,  energy  and  good  judgment  with  which  you  carried  on 
and  completed  your  work.  Rhode  Island  owes  you  a  debt  of  gratitude, 
and  your  name  will  always  be  associated  with  one  of  her  most  important 
institutions."  It  was  a  distinguished  honor  accorded  the  bill  for  a  State 
Normal  School  that  it  passed  both  Houses  of  the  General  Assembly  by  a 
unanimous  vote  in  each  House.  The  bill  became  a  law  March  15,  1871. 
(See  story  of  Rhode  Island  Normal  School,  1911).  The  Normal  School 
began  its  work  with  a  principal,  J.  C.  Grecnough,  and  two  assistants.  It 
now  has  a  faculty  of  twenty-one  teachers,  with  forty-eight  heads  of  obser- 
vation and  training  schools,  etc.  Two  thousand  nine  hundred  and  twenty- 
eight  teachers  have  received  their  diplomas  at  graduation  to  date. 

Mr.  Thomas  B.  Stockwell  was  an  assistant  teacher  in  the  Providence 
High  School  before  entering  on  the  duties  of  the  Commissioner.  The  son 
of  a  Congregational  minister,  a  graduate  of  Brown  University  in  the  class 
of  1862,  his  life  had  been  one  of  study  and  teaching,  with  a  fair  knowledge 
of  the  workings  of  Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island  schools.  He  found 
the  educational  life  of  the  State  vigorous  and  progressive,  and  in  Mr. 
Greenough  of  the  Normal  School  as  a  practical  assistant,  a  man  of  un- 
usual strength,  with  fine  administrative  and  teaching  ability,  and  a  strong 
initiative.  The  train  of  educational  progress  was  advancing,  with  good 
momentum,  and  Commissioner  Stockwell  had  only  to  board  it  and  direct 
its  velocity.  Mr.  Greenough  proposed  the  purchase  of  the  Providence 
High  School  building  on  Benefit  street.  Providence,  and  this  was  soon 
accomplished  and  the  Normal  School  removed  to  better  and  larger  ac- 
commodations. Mr.  Stockwell  was  a  hard  worker,  faithful,  conscien- 
tious, winning  the  confidence  of  the  educational  forces  of  the  State  and 
the  favor  of  the  General  Assembly.  He  organized  the  State  library  move- 
ment and  gave  to  it  much  time.  Political  forces  began  to  advise  and 
direct  in  school  matters.  Where  he  could  not  control,  he  yielded  grace- 
fully without  opposition.  General  Charles  R.  Brayton,  the  political  boss 
of  Rhode  Island,  came  to  have  a  controlling  voice  in  all  the  affairs  of  the 
State.    Fortunately,  he  usually  consented  to  Mr.  Stockwell's  plans  and  his 


686  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

official  career  was  safe-guarded.  Initiative  and  organization  were  no 
longer  needed  as  qualifications  of  the  school  commissioner.  Safety  lay 
in  acquiescence  and  in  a  conservative  policy.  Providence  influence  as- 
sumed control  of  normal  school  affairs  during  Mr.  Stockwell's  term.  Out 
of  it  came  the  new  Normal  School  building,  with  its  fine  equipment. 
Among  the  State  institutions  which  came  into  being  during  Mr.  Stock- 
well's  term  were  the  State  Home  and  School,  the  Rhode  Island  School 
for  the  Deaf,  Rhode  Island  School  of  Design,  and  the  Rhode  Island  State 
College,  each  originating  in  agencies  independent  of  the  commissioner's 
office.  The  State  Home  and  School  for  Dependent  and  Neglected  Child- 
ren was  opened  April  i,  1885.  The  Rhode  Island  State  College  is  a 
United  States  "land  grant  college,"  founded  by  the  Government  in  each 
State  to  give  "a  chance  to  the  industrial  classes  of  the  country  to  obtain  a 
liberal  education"  through  experimental,  extentional  and  instructional 
work.  Hon.  John  W.  Davis,  Governor  of  the  State,  was  largely  instru- 
mental in  the  establishment  of  this  most  worthy  institution.  The  School 
for  the  Deaf  was  opened  as  a  day  school,  April  2,  1877,  with  five  pupils. 
Large  buildings  have  been  erected  by  the  State  and  this  school  is  now  in 
a  most  excellent  condition,  under  the  principalship  of  Mrs.  E.  G.  Hard, 
at  520  Hope  street,  Providence.  There  are  now  fifty-seven  free  public 
libraries  in  the  State,  all  receiving  State  aid  through  the  State  Board  of 
Education.  These  libraries  have  about  600,000  volumes  on  their  shelves, 
with  a  healthy  and  growing  circulation.  Good  literature  is  now  within 
easy  reach,  and  without  cost  to  every  child  and  citizen  of  Rhode  Island. 
The  historic  Redwood  Library  of  Newport  is  not  included  in  the  above 
list,  nor  the  State  Library,  State  House,  Providence,  nor  the  fine  libraries 
of  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society  at  Providence  and  that  of  the 
Newport  Historical  Society.  The  John  Carter  Brown  Library  contains 
the  most  valuable  collection  of  Americatia  to  be  found  in  the  United  States. 
The  John  Hay  Library  of  Brown  University  has  235,000  books  at  the 
service  of  professors,  students  and  alumni,  well  housed.  This  Board  has 
become  the  foster-parent  of  many  of  the  State  educational  institutions 
and  has  rendered  great  services  in  a  general  superintendence  of  their 
work  and  finances.  The  Board  has  been  a  valuable  director  in  matters 
committed  to  its  control  and  a  careful  advisor  in  affairs  prudential  and 
financial.  It  has  also  given  stability  to  the  official  heads  of  the  school 
department  of  the  State,  so  that  in  a  period  of  fifty  years,  only  two  Com- 
missioners have  completed  their  terms  of  office — the  first,  Mr.  Bicknell, 
resigning  January  i,  1875,  ^or  another  field  of  educational  work,  and  the 
other — Mr.  Stockwell,  who  died  in  office  in  1906.  In  the  period  between 
January  1,  1844,  and  January  i,  1870,  eight  changes  had  been  made  in 
the  Commissioner's  office:  Barnard,  1844-1849;  Potter,  1849-1854;  Allyn, 


JOIIX  HAV  LIBRARY.  I'.ROW  X   UNIVERSITY 


HO?K  STREET  HIGH  SCHOOL,  PROVIDENCE 


^  . 


JOHN"   CARIKR    IIROWX    HOUSl-: 
Hiimc   cif   jcilm   l.'arttT    I'.rowii    Library 


EDUCATION  687 

1854-1857;  Kingsbury,  1857-1859;  Chapin,  1859-1861 ;  Roiismanien,  1861- 
1863;  Chapin,  1863-1869;  Bicknell,  1869.  Mr.  Stockwell  served  the 
State  faithfully  for  thirty  years,  dying  in  office  at  the  age  of  67  years. 

The  ninth  Commissioner  of  Public  Schools  is  Walter  E.  Ranger,  who 
succeeded  Thomas  B.  Stockwell  in  1905.  Born  in  Maine,  Dr.  Ranger 
received  his  early  education  in  a  district  school,  and  was  prepared  for 
college  at  Wilton  Academy.  He  was  graduated  from  Bates  College,  and 
after  graduation  took  up  his  life  work  in  the  profession  of  education,  in 
which  he  had  already  served  an  apprenticeship  through  teaching  district 
schools  while  a  college  student.  As  a  teacher  he  served  with  honor  and 
reputation  in  three  State  systems  of  schools  in  Maine,  Massachusetts  and 
Vermont.  He  had  been  principal  of  Nichols  Latin  School,  Lewiston, 
Maine ;  principal  of  the  high  school  at  Lennox,  Massachusetts ;  principal 
of  Lyndon  Institute,  Lyndon,  Vermont,  and  principal  of  Johnstown  Nor- 
mal School,  Vermont,  before  he  was  elected  State  Superintendent  of  Ver- 
mont. He  had  served  six  years  as  State  Superintendent  in  Vermont 
before  being  called  to  Rhode  Island.  It  was  significant  for  Rhode  Island 
education  that  the  State  Board  of  Education  in  choosing  a  successor  for 
Thomas  B.  Stockwell  should  be  first  to  follow  the  precedent  established  in 
1S43,  when  Rhode  Island  called  Henry  Barnard  from  Connecticut  to  be 
State  Agent  for  Public  Schools  and  afterward  Commissioner  of  Public 
Schools.  The  precedent  has  been  followed  since  1905  by  Massachusetts, 
Maine,  Connecticut  and  Pennsylvania. 

After  a  year  spent  in  careful  study  of  Rhode  Island  public  schools, 
Dr.  Ranger,  in  1906,  recommended  ten  measures  for  the  improvement  and 
extension  of  the  public  school  system.  Four  of  these  measures  aimed  at 
advancement  of  the  professional  and  economic  status  of  the  teachers,  con- 
sistently with  Dr.  Ranger's  recognition  of  the  principle  that,  next  to  the 
children  themselves,  the  teacher  is  the  most  important  factor  in  the 
schools.  A  teachers'  pension  law  was  recommended  as  a  means  of  pro- 
viding retirement  for  teachers  who  through  years  of  faithful  devotion  to 
education  of  the  people's  children  had  earned  a  right  to  honorable  release 
from  active  service.  It  is  worthy  of  mention  that  the  Rhode  Island  pen- 
sion law  is  exclusively  a  public  enter[)rise,  because  it  is  supported  solely 
by  State  appropriations.  A  minimum  salary  for  teachers,  reasonable 
legal  tenure  for  teachers,  and  a  summer  school  for  teachers,  also  were 
recommended.  All  of  these  recommendations  have  received  the  approval 
of  the  General  Assembly,  which  has  enacted  legislation  or  made  other 
provision  to  carry  them  into  effect.  In  addition  thereto,  at  Dr.  Ranger's 
suggestion,  the  General  Assembly  has  provided  an  annual  appropriation 
of  $5,000  for  the  support  of  a  graduate  department  of  education  at  Brown 
University,  and  for  free  State  scholarships  therein  for  public  school 
teachers  and  for  persons  preparing  to  become  teachers.     In  his  decisions 


688  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

as  Commiissioner  of  Public  Schools,  Dr.  Ranger  has  aimed  still  further 
to  maintain  and  to  uphold  a  legal  status  for  the  teacher  in  his  relation  to 
the  school,  to  the  town,  to  the  State,  and  to  the  people,  consistent  with 
principles  fundamental  in  the  administration  of  a  department  of  public 
service  so  vital  to  the  life  of  a  democratic  State  as  are  its  public  schools. 
Three  of  Dr.  Ranger's  recommendations  concerned  with  the  schools 
themselves,  were  improved  school  sanitation  and  sanitary  standards, 
industrial  and  trade  education  in  the  public  schools,  and  a  more  practical 
equalization  of  educational  opportunities,  the  last  to  be  secured  by  provi- 
sion of  high  school  education  for  all  the  youth  of  the  State  and  extension 
of  skillful  supervision.  Each  recommendation  has  been  carried  into  effect 
through  legislation,  and  each  has  become  a  precedent  for  more  legislation. 
When  the  General  Assembly,  in  1912,  entrusted  to  the  State  Board  of 
Education  the  duty  of  approving  proper  standards  of  heating,  lighting, 
seating,  ventilating  and  other  sanitary  arrangements  for  schools,  tlie  same 
act  carried  an  annual  appropriation  to  be  apportioned  to  towns  providing 
medical  inspection  for  schools,  and  also  required  superintendents  to  make 
or  to  cause  to  be  made  an  annual  inspection  of  the  eyes  and  ears  of  chil- 
dren for  the  purpose  of  detecting  defects  of  vision  and  hearing.  Statistical 
returns  indicate  that  the  annual  examination  of  eyes  and  ears,  and  the 
notices  of  defects  sent  to  parents,  have  had  a  significant  effect — ^the  num- 
ber of  children  found  to  have  defective  vision  or  hearing  decreases  pro- 
portionately to  the  number  examined  from  year  to  year.  Subsequent 
legislation  has  exemplified  the  provision  for  improved  school  sanitation. 
Examination  of  the  teeth  of  school  children  was  permitted  under  the 
medical  inspection  law ;  in  1917  school  committees  were  authorized  to 
establish  public  dental  clinics,  and  to  provide,  at  public  expense,  treatment 
for  children  found  with  defective  teeth,  in  instances  in  which  the  parents 
after  reasonable  notice  failed  to  provide  treatment.  In  the  same  year  the 
General  Assembly  enacted  a  law  rquiring  that  every  child  over  eight  years 
of  age,  attending  public  or  private  instruction,  shall  receive  an  average  of 
twenty  minutes  daily  of  physical  training  or  physical  education.  Since 
1913  children  applying  for  age  and  employment  certificates  permitting 
children  over  fourteen  and  under  sixteen  years  of  age  to  work,  have  been 
examined  by  physicians  employed  by  the  State,  to  determine  sound  health 
and  physical  fitness  for  employment,  without  which  issue  of  the  certificate 
is  forbidden.  Of  seven  legal  measures  for  safeguarding  the  health  of 
children  of  school  age — certificates  of  vaccination,  medical  inspection, 
examination  of  eyes  and  ears,  dental  inspection  and  dental  clinics,  sani- 
tary standards  for  school  houses,  compulsory  physical  training,  and  exami- 
nation of  children  for  employment — six  belong  to  Dr.  Ranger's  adminis- 
tration. Under  State  encouragement,  medical  inspection  has  been  pro- 
vided for  more  than  ninety  per  cent,  of  the  children  enrolled  in  public 


EDUCATION  689 

schools.     Town  and  State  expenditures  for  medical   inspection  exceed 
$30,000  annually. 

Industrial  and  trade  education  are  not  new  in  Rhode  Island.  Com- 
missioner Ricknell,  in  1874,  recommended  instruction  in  drawing  in  all 
public  scliools  as  a  study  absolutely  essential  to  the  development  of  Rhode 
Island  industries.  The  State  became  a  contributing  associate  in  the  pro- 
motion of  the  Rhwle  Island  -School  of  Design  in  1882,  and  in  1888  estab- 
hshed  at  Kingston  the  agricultural  school  that  became  subsequently  Rhode 
Island  State  College.  Dr.  Ranger  served  as  a  member  of  a  special  com- 
mission appointed  by  the  General  .Assembly  to  investigate  and  report  on 
the  educational  value  of  the  Rhode  Island  State  College  to  the  State.  The 
report,  largely  the  work  of  the  commissioner,  is  an  exhaustive  treatment 
of  the  functions  of  State  colleges  and  of  Rhode  Island  State  College  in 
particular :  its  publication  after  presentation  to  the  General  Assembly 
helped  to  establish  for  Rhode  Island  State  College  the  esteem  in  which 
this  institution  is  now  held  by  the  people  of  the  State.  At  the  request  of 
the  General  Assembly,  Dr.  Ranger  in  1910  made  a  special  investigation  of 
and  report  on  the  State's  need  of  industrial,  vocational  and  industrial 
education.  The  Assembly  in  1912  made  the  fir.st  annual  appropriation  for 
the  promotion  of  industrial  education  in  the  public  schools  of  Rhode 
Island,  and  in  191 3  made  provision  to  contribute  to  the  support  of  a  textile 
department  at  Rhode  Island  School  of  Design.  Since  191 6  an  annual 
appropriation  of  $1,000  has  been  available  for  free  State  scholarships  at 
Rhode  Island  College  of  Pharmacy  and  Allied  Sciences.  Largely  as  a 
result  of  Dr.  Ranger's  persuasion.  Rhode  Island  in  1917  accepted  the  pro- 
visions of  the  Federal  Vocational  Education  Act,  and  the  General  Assem- 
bly has  made  appropriations  available  that  will  permit  cooperation  by  the 
State  Department  of  Education  with  the  Federal  Board  for  Vocational 
Education  in  the  development  of  vocational  education  in  the  public 
schools.  A  significant  innovation  in  this  direction  has  been  the  establish- 
ment in  Providence  of  a  Trade  School  for  Boys  over  fourteen  years  of 
age.  This  school  provides  part-time  education  for  boys  already  engaged  in 
industry,  who  are  released  a  few  hours  each  day  for  school  instruction  in 
the  trade  or  in  studies  correlated  with  the  trade  or  suitable  to  improve  the 
civic  usefulness  of  the  boys.  When  the  United  States  entered  the  World 
War,  the  Rhode  Island  board  cooperated  with  the  Federal  Board  for 
\'ocational  Education  in  training  men  for  trade  and  occupational  service 
with  the  armies.  More  than  six  hundred  and  fifty  men  were  trained  for 
army  occupations,  and  more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  were  trained  to 
become  munition  workers  in  factories. 

While  in  V'ermont,  Dr.  Ranger  had  written  the  text  of  a  law  making 
the  provision  of  high  school  education  a  mandatory  obligation  of  towns. 

R  1-44 


690  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

State  support  of  high  school  education  in  Rhode  Island  began  in  1898. 
In  1906  Dr.  Ranger  recommended  mandatory  provision  of  high  school 
education  as  one  element  in  a  general  program  for  equalizing  educational 
opportunities.  Three  years  later  the  General  Assembly  increased  the 
annual  appropriation  for  high  schools,  and  amended  the  high  school  law 
in  such  manner  as  to  require  every  town  in  the  State  either  to  maintain  a 
public  high  school,  or  to  make  provision  at  the  expense  of  the  town  for 
high  school  education,  by  pacing  tuitions  at  public  high  schools  in  other 
towns  or  in  approved  secondary  scliools.  Commissioner  Ranger  drafted 
this  law.  The  Commissioner's  decision  in  the  appeal  of  Hudson  vs.  Cov- 
entry, approved  by  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  upholds  a 
most  liberal  interpretatipn  of  the  high  school  law.  In  1914  an  inspector 
of  high  schools  was  appointed.  Extension  of  skillful  supervision  was 
also  recommended  as  a  measure  to  promote  equalization  of  educational 
opportunity,  and  certification  of  superintendent  as  a  measure  for  the  gen- 
eral improvement  of  supervision.  The  General  Assembly  in  1908  extended 
the  certificate  law  to  cover  superintendents  as  well  as  teachers,  in  1915 
offered  to  towns  that  had  not  previously  taken  advantage  of  State  support 
for  supervision  a  most  liberal  plan  for  supervision  largely  at  State 
expense,  in  191 7  extended  the  pension  law  to  cover  superintendents  as  well 
as  teachers,  and  in  1919  increased  by  one-third  the  amount  that  might  be 
apportioned  to  each  town  for  support  of  supervision.  By  reason  of  per- 
sistent effort  to  extend  the  area  of  the  State  covered  by  professional  super- 
intendents, the  number  of  towns  under  trained  supervision  has  increased 
from  fourteen  in  1905  to  thirty-three  in  1919.  Only  six  towns  in  Rhode 
Island  are  still  without  professional  supervision.  Of  the  2642  public 
schools  in  Rhode  Island,  2586  are  under  professional  supervision;  of 
92,292  children  enrolled  in  public  schools,  90,541  attend  schools  that  are 
under  professional  supervision. 

On  the  recommendation  of  the  Commissioner  in  191 3,  the  General 
Assembly  made  its  first  annual  appropriation  for  deficient  schools  in  an 
act  providing  for  apportionment  of  not  more  than  $5,000  annually  for 
specific  improvement  of  schools  in  towns  unable  at  the  average  rate  of 
taxation  prevailing  in  the  State  to  maintain  schools  of  high  standard. 
This  appropriation  has  been  used  to  remedy  unwholesome  conditions  in 
rural  schools,  and  through  it  a  tremendous  improvement  has  been  accom- 
plished. A  noteworthy  by-product  of  this  law  is  the  minimum  legal  school 
year  of  thirty-six  weeks,  enacted  after  every  town  in  the  State,  some  with 
support  under  the  deficient  school  act,  had  attained  the  minimum.  It 
should  be  noted  that,  besides  maintaining  the  longest  minimum  school  year 
in  the  United  States,  Rhode  Island's  average  school  year  of  199  days  is 
also  the  longest  average  school  year  in  the  United  States. 

The  two  remaining  recommendations  of   1906  were  State  aid   for 


EDUCATION  691 

travelling  libraries,  and  a  State  home  and  school  for  the  feeble-minded. 
The  promotion  of  public  libraries  had  been  one  of  the  earliest  functions  of 
the  State  Board  of  Education  as  recommended  by  Commissioner  Bicknell, 
and,  with  liberal  support,  public  libraries  had  been  established  in  almost 
every  town  in  the  State.  Dr.  Ranger's  study  of  Rliode  Island's  needs  con- 
vinced him  that  library  service  could  be  made  more  efficient  through  circu- 
lating travelling  libraries.  An  act  passed  in  1907  provided  for  travelling 
libraries,  and  a  library  visitor,  whose  duties  include  inspecting  public 
libraries,  aiding  librarians  in  improving  library  service  and  supervising  the 
circulation  of  travelling  libraries.  The  significance  of  the  travelling  library 
as  an  educational  measure  is  indicated  in  reports  of  recent  years,  which 
show  average  annual  loans  totalling  50,000  volumes.  In  1907  the  State 
Board  of  Education  was  authorized  to  establish  a  school  and  home  for  the 
feeble-minded.  A  farm  near  Slocums  was  chosen  as  a  site,  and  the  insti- 
tution now  known  as  the  Exeter  School  was  developed.  After  ten  yeafs, 
in  which  the  establishment  was  thoroughly  organized  and  its  usefulness 
to  the  State  was  demonstrated,  the  State  Board  of  Education,  pursuant  to 
its  request,  was  relieved  of  responsibility  for  the  Exeter  School,  which 
was  transferred  in  191 7  to  the  control  and  management  of  the  Penal  and 
Charitable  Commission. 

Dr.  Ranger  is  a  firm  believer  in  an  education  common  to  all,  which  he 
defines  in  two  ways — first,  as  the  education  which  sound  public  policy 
determines  that  every  citizen  should  possess ;  and  second,  as  all  the  educa- 
tion of  all  the  citizens  of  the  State,  which  is  part  of  the  social  property. 
His  belief  in  the  education  common  to  all  of  the  latter  type  has  led  him 
to  advocate  increase  of  opportunities  for  higher  education  for  all  the  youth 
of  the  State.  He  has  urged  the  extension  of  high  school  education,  and 
has  consistently  labored  to  promote  the  interests  of  Rhode  Island  Normal 
School  and  Rhode  Island  State  College.  A  plan  for  combining  the 
resources  and  facilities  of  these  two  institutions,  and  for  the  development 
of  a  strong  department  of  education  at  both  for  the  education  of  teachers 
for  the  schools  of  the  State,  originated  with  him,  and  will  be  carried  into 
effect  with  the  opening  of  the  school  year  of  1919-1920.  This  plan  pro- 
vides for  an  exchange  of  members  of  the  faculties  of  the  college  and  the 
normal  school,  and  an  exchange  of  students.  Students  who  complete  a 
four-year  course,  including  two  years  each  at  the  college  and  the  normal 
school,  will  be  granted  the  baccalaureate  degree  in  education.  Teachers 
for  elementary  schools  and  high  schools,  and  also  teachers  for  the  new 
vocational  schools,  will  be  prepared.  Under  the  system  of  State  certifica- 
tion for  all  public  school  teachers,  and  with  the  unexcelled  facilities  for 
training  teachers  provided  in  Rhode  Island,  Rhode  Island  has  undisputed 
leadership  in  the  personnel  of  the  teaching  force,  more  than  eighty-five 
per  cent,  of  all  the  teachers  in  the  State  being  graduates  of  normal  schools 


692  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

or  colleges.    The  combination  of  Rhode  Island  Normal  School  and  Rhode 
Island  State  College  aims  at  further  improvement. 

The  education  common  to  all,  in  the  former  sense,  is  the  education 
promoted  by  compulsory  attendance  and  similar  laws.  Since  1905  mini- 
mum employment  age  has  been  raised  from  thirteen  years  to  fourteen 
years,  compulsory  school  age  has  been  raised  from  thirteen  years  to  four- 
teen years,  and  compulsory  attendance  age  has  been  raised  from  fifteen 
years  to  sixteen  years.  The  compulsory  school  law  and  the  factory  inspec- 
tion law,  both  of  which  deal  with  school  age  and  school  attendance,  have 
gradually  been  perfected,  through  successive  amendments,  all  with  the 
purpose  of  presenting  every  possible  loss  of  education  common  to  all, 
through  non-attendance  at  school  in  the  years  designated  by  law.  Signifi- 
cant gains  in  attendance  have  been  made ;  more  than  95  per  cent,  of  chil- 
dren of  compulsory  school  age  are  enrolled  in  school.  The  large  foreign- 
born  population  in  Rhode  Island,  and  the  correspondingly  large  number 
of  children  of  foreign-born  parents  in  Rhode  Island,  have  produced  an 
educational  problem  that  may  not  be  solved  simply  by  providing  excellent 
free  public  schools  and  by  enforcing  attendance  in  the  usual  years  of 
childhood.  The  solution  of  this  problem  was  first  attempted  through  the 
establishment  of  evenmg  schools,  but  evening  school  attendance  never  has 
been  compulsory.  In  the  day  schools  a  particular  effort  to  Americanize 
all  children,  including  native-born  children  of  American  parents,  and  chil- 
dren of  foreign  birth  or  born  of  foreign-born  parents,  has  been  made 
through  the  teaching  of  patriotism  and  American  ideals.  Through  Dr. 
Ranger's  initiative  the  practice  of  providing  patriotic  programs  for  special 
days  of  school  observance  has  been  developed.  Two  patriotic  programs 
are  published  annually,  the  editions  being  large  enough  to  permit  wide- 
spread distribution  among  school  children.  Custom  in  other  States  limits 
the  circulation  of  similar  programs  to  teachers.  An  attempt  to  solve  the 
problems  of  Americanization  and  adult  illiteracy  so  far  as  these  problems 
may  be  solved  through  public  educational  agencies,  has  been  authorized 
by  the  General  Assembly  in  1919  in  an  act  entitled  "An  Act  to  Promote 
Americanization."  The  bill  was  drawn  under  Dr.  Ranger's  direction  and 
was  modified  by  him  after  reference  to  and  consideration  by  committees 
of  the  General  Assembly.  The  act  requires  towns,  in  which  twenty  per- 
sons may  be  found  who  cannot  speak,  read  and  write  the  English  language 
with  reasonable  facility  determined  by  standards  established  by  the  State 
Board  of  Education,  to  establish  evening  schools  for  the  teaching  of  the 
English  language  and  other  subjects  that  promote  good  citizenship.  Per- 
sons beyond  compulsory  day  school  age  and  under  twenty-one  years  of 
age  are  required  to  attend  such  evening  schools,  or  day  continuation 
schools  established  in  factories  or  other  convenient  place,  at  least  two  hun- 
dred hours  per  year,  under  penalty  of  fine  for  absence,  or  irmprisonment 


EDUCATION  693 

during  minority  for  habitual  absence,  or  attendance  so  irregular  tliat  the 
requirement  of  two  hundred  hours  of  attendance  may  not  be  met.  While 
attendance  is  compulsory  only  for  illiterate  minors,  it  is  hoped  that  illit- 
erate adults  also  will  attend  the  new  type  of  schools  in  sufficient  numbers 
to  promise  a  radical  reduction  of  illiteracy,  and  a  marked  increase  in  the 
proportion  of  the  population  of  the  State  competent  to  read,  write  and 
speak  English. 

From  what  has  been  written,  the  reader  cannot  fail  to  observe  the 
emphasis  that  has  been  given  in  Dr.  Ranger's  administration  to  confirming 
the  establishment  of  educational  practices  in  legislation.  Dr.  Ranger's 
study  of  Rliode  Island  education  in  his  first  year  as  Commissioner  of 
Public  Schools  led  him  to  a  keen  appreciation  of  this  characteristic  of 
Rhode  Island.  Indeed,  the  correlation  of  educational  legislation  and  edu- 
cational progress  in  Rhode  Island  is  so  nearly  perfect  that  practically  the 
success  or  failure  of  educational  administration  may  be  measured  in  terms 
of  educational  legislation.  The  most  forceful  and  most  resourceful  com- 
missioners have  been  those  who  have  been  able  to  gain  most  in  legislation 
from  the  General  Assembly.  Legislation  is  necessary  not  only  to  confirm 
educational  practice  and  prevent  retroaction,  but  also  to  initiate  new  prac- 
tice when  older  practice  has  ceased  to  be  efficient  or  when  a  development 
of  the  social  environment  makes  new  demands  upon  the  school  and  other 
educational  agencies.  Satisfactory  evidence  of  the  continued  progress  of 
Rhode  Island  education  during  Dr.  Ranger's  administration  is  to  be  found 
in  statistics.  Since  1905,  State  appropriations  for  education  have  increased 
from  $152,346  to  $548,000,  a  gain  of  260  per  cent.,  and  town  appropria- 
tions have  increased  from  $1,593,935  to  $2,957,698,  a  gain  of  nearly  100 
per  cent.  Both  gains  attest  public  interest  in  education.  Total  school 
revenue,  including  State  and  town  appropriations,  poll  taxes,  dog  taxes, 
and  money  derived  from  other  sources,  have  increased  from  $2,000,000 
to  $4,000,000,  a  gain  of  100  per  cent.  Annual  expenditures  for  new- 
school  buildings  have  risen  from  a  three-year  average  of  $482,000  to  a 
three-year  average  of  $850,000.  Expenditures  for  instruction  and  main- 
tenance of  schools  have  increased  from  $1,563,856  to  $2,811,280,  a  gain 
of  80  per  cent.  There  is  no  school  tax  so  designated  in  Rhode  Island. 
The  rate  of  school  tax  may  be  detennined  from  the  ratio  of  school  appro- 
priations to  total  annual  appropriations.  Since  1905  the  school  tax  rate 
thus  calculated  has  increased  from  31 '4  cents  to  393^  cents.  The  cost  of 
schools  per  capita  of  school  population,  or  the  amount  the  State  and  the 
towns  expend  for  each  child  of  school  age,  has  increased  from  $15.66  in 
1905  to  $30.56.  These  figures  indicate  that  in  less  than  fifteen  years  the 
people  of  Rhode  Island  have  nearly  doubled  the  provision  made  for  edu- 
cation of  the  children  of  the  State,  and  are  an  index  of  improvement  and 
extension  of  the  public  schools.    In  the  same  period  public  school  attend- 


694  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

ance  has  increased  from  71,425  to  92,292,  and  the  total  number  of  chil- 
dren receiving  instruction  in  public  and  private  schools  has  increased  from 
79,819  to  100,643. 

The  extensive  and  intensive  development  of  law  in  the  period  since 
1905  has  involved  a  corresponding  development  of  responsibility  and  a 
necessity  for  the  organization  of  machinery  for  administration.  Previous 
to  1905  the  Commissioner  was  assisted  by  two  clerks,  at  the  present  time 
his  official  family  includes  an  assistant  commissioner,  a  secretary  and 
deputy,  a  high  school  inspector,  a  library  visitor  and  four  clerks.  A  notion 
of  the  business  of  the  State  office  may  be  gained  from  the  statement  that 
not  less  than  25,000  pieces  of  mail  are  sent  out  annually.  The  service  of 
the  office  is  organized  in  twenty-five  divisions  as  follows :  General  super- 
vision, accounts,  regular  reports,  special  reports,  teacher  training,  certifi- 
cation of  teachers,  teachers'  institutes,  teachers'  pensions,  public  libraries, 
travelling  libraries.  State  free  scholarships,  education  of  blind  children, 
education  of  adult  blind,  private  schools,  publications,  appeals  under 
school  law,  blank  forms  and  supplies,  apportionment  of  appropriations, 
board  meetings  and  conferences,  interstate  relations,  age  and  employment 
certificates,  general  correspondence,  vocational  education,  miscellaneous 
and  unclassified.  The  Commissioner  is  ex-officio  secretary  of  the  State 
Board  of  Education,  a  member  of  and  secretary  of  the  board  of  trustees 
of  Rhode  Island  Normal  School,  executive  agent  and  secretary  of  the 
Rhode  Island  State  Board  for  Vocational  Education,  a  member  of  and 
president  of  the  board  of  managers  of  Rhode  Island  State  College,  and 
a  member  of  the  board  of  trustees  and  executive  committee  of  Rhode 
Island  School  of  Design.  Except  appropriations  for  institutions.  State 
appropriations  for  education  are  apportioned  and  paid  on  orders  drawn 
by  the  Commissioner  in  some  one  of  his  official  capacities,  and  he  assumes 
the  responsibility  of  apportioning  according  to  law  one-quarter  of  a  mil- 
lion dollars  annually. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV 


RHODE  ISLAND  AND  THE  STRUGGLE  FOR 
INDEPENDENCE 


GILBERT    STUART'S    PORTRAIT    OF    WASHINGTON 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

RHODE   ISLAND   AND   THE   STRUGGLE   FOR   INDEPEND- 
ENCE. 

Our  first  civil  war,  in  which  the  Colony  of  Rhode  Island  became  an 
active  participant,  opened  on  April  19,  1775,  in  the  battles  of  Lexington 
and  Concord  and  came  to  an  end  with  the  Treaty  of  Paris,  Sept.  3,  1783. 
It  was  a  long  contest  for  which  both  England  and  her  thirteen  American 
Colonies  had  for  a  long  time  been  unconsciously  and  unostentatiously 
preparing,  and  Rhode  Island  the  least  purposeful  of  all  as  to  a  severance 
of  Colonial  relations.  For  it  need  only  be  stated  that  Rhode  Island  was 
the  favored  child  of  Mother  England  in  her  whole  career,  from  birth, 
through  more  than  a  century  of  prosperous  years.  Until  1644,  England 
scarcely  knew  she  had  a  Narragansett  country,  and  on  the  request  of 
Roger  Williams,  she  gladly  consented  to  a  charter  over  a  wilderness  of 
land  and  waters,  held  heretofore  by  pagan  barbarians.  Harry  Vane  and 
the  other  Colonial  Commissioners  and  even  Mr.  Williams  knew  so  little 
about  it,  that  it  took  a  century  of  Colonial  controversies  to  secure  to 
Rhode  Island  what  was  supposed  to  be  comprehended  within  the  original 
lay-out.  The  Coddington  Charter,  a  frightful  apparition  in  the  eyes  of 
Rhode  Island  democracy,  was  granted  without  solicitation,  and  withdrawn 
at  the  personal  request  of  two  Colonial  agents. 

The  charter  of  1663,  signed  by  an  arch-royalist,  conferred  on  the 
Rhode  Island  Colony  an  independence,  commensurate  with  the  Democracy 
of  the  Aquidneck  settlement  of  1638,  and  served  the  constitutional  de- 
mands of  both  Colony  and  State  for  the  unprecedented  period  of  one 
hundred  and  eighty  years,  until  1843.  The  spasmodic  attempts  to  over- 
ride charters  and  chartered  rights  in  Rliode  Island,  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  had  been  successfully  parried  by  Colonial  diplomacy  and,  at  the 
opening  of  the  next  century,  the  Colony  found  itself  pursuing  the  even 
tenor  of  its  way  without  interference  in  any  way  with  its  home  politics, 
the  Colony  giving  to  the  Crown  such  support  as  it  could  easily  supply  in 
the  defense  of  its  frontiers  on  the  north,  held  by  the  French,  in  return 
for  fancied  Royal  protection. 

The  opening  of  the  eighteenth  century  witnessed  a  new  parliamentary 
policy  towards  the  Colonies  in  the  famous  Acts  of  Navigation,  which  were 
almost  wholly  restrictive  in  their  application  and  most  seriously  aflected 
our  Colony,  and  Newport,  our  chief  commercial  town.  By  these  laws, 
the  export  and  import  trade  was  limited  to  the  British  people  and  must 
be  transported  in  English  ships.  In  1699,  a  law  was  passed  that  "no 
wool  or  manufacture  made  or  mixed  with  wool,  being  the  product  of  any 


698  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

of  the  English  Plantations  in  America,  shall  be  loaded  in  any  ship  or 
vessel,  upon  any  pretense  whatever,  nor  loden  upon  any  horse,  cart  or 
other  carriages,  to  be  carried  out  of  the  English  Plantations  to  any  other 
of  the  said  Plantations,  or  to  any  place  whatever."  As  an  illustration,  the 
Narragansett  lands  were  well  suited  to  sheep  raising,  but  the  wool  could 
not  be  legally  sold  in  New  York  or  Boston  or  even  in  Newport  and  Prov- 
idence, but  it  was  sold  in  each  and  all  of  these  places,  for  the  Colonial 
Customs  were  often  blind,  and  an  ocean,  three  thousand  miles  wide,  for- 
bade an  intimate  knowledge  of  conditions  or  an  exact  interpretation  and 
execution  of  Parliamentary  law.  The  House  of  Hanover,  in  1714,  with 
a  Whig  ministry,  assumed  the  new  role  of  legislating  for  the  Colonies,  with 
an  absolute  and  constant  regard  for  the  revenues  of  the  Home  Govern- 
ment, regardless  of  the  interests  of  the  subject  peoples  across  the  sea. 
In  1719,  the  House  of  Commons  resolved  "that  the  erecting  of  manufac- 
tories in  the  Colonies  tended  to  lessen  their  dependence  upon  Great  Brit- 
ain." In  1721,  George  I.  recommended  the  importation  of  raw  products 
from  the  Colonies,  on  the  ground  that  it  would  prevent  the  Colonies  from 
setting  up  manufactures, — a  policy  fatal  to  Rhode  Island  manufacturing 
resources  and  possibilities.  Rhode  Island  had  native  iron  ore  which  the 
Jenckes  and  others  were  manufacturing  into  nails  and  household  utensils, 
but  in  1719,  the  Commons  ordered  that  no  Colony  should  allow  the  man- 
ufacture of  any  iron  ore  and  that  no  smith  might  make  so  much  as  a  bolt, 
a  spike  or  a  nail,  and  the  Lords  added  that  no  forge  should  be  erected 
in  any  of  the  Colonies  for  making  sows,  pigs  or  cast-iron  into  bar  or  rod- 
iron.  Law  after  law  of  the  same  nature  were  passed  relative  to  every 
conceivable  article  of  English  trade  and  commerce,  to  repress  the  prosper- 
ity of  the  Colonies  by  crushing  every  rising  industry  that  could  possibly 
compete  with  the  home  market.  A  singular  illustration  appears  in  the 
legislation  of  Great  Britain  as  to  fur  hats.  Furs  of  the  finest  quality 
were  abundant  in  New  England  and  an  important  factor  in  our  commerce. 
The  New  England  Colonists  began  to  make  their  own  hats.  The  English 
hatters  were  alarmed  and  Parliament  passed  a  law,  forbidding  the  ex- 
portation of  hats  and  also  from  one  Colony  to  another,  and  that  no  Col- 
onist should  become  a  hatter  unless  he  had  served  a  seven  years'  appren- 
ticeship. The  Colonists  sent  large  quantities  of  provisions,  lumber,  etc., 
to  the  French  West  Indies  and  brought  back  rum,  sugar  and  molasses. 
The  English  sugar  colonies  complained  of  this  foreign  trade  and  in  1733 
a  law  was  passed  imposing  heavy  penalties  on  all  rum,  sugar  and  molasses 
imported  into  the  Colonies  except  from  British  colonies  and  islands. 
Such  laws  could  not  be  enforced  and  were  not  repealed.  Their  natural 
products  were  hatred  of  the  law-making  power,  the  agencies  that  enacted 
the  laws  and  the  study  of  methods  to  defeat  them.  A  hundred  years  of 
separation  from  the  home  land,  roughing  it  on  the  Atlantic  Coast,  had 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCE  699 

produced  a  race  of  hardy  men  on  land  and  sea,  and  their  prosperity  had 
been  won  in  the  struggle  for  supremacy  over  adverse  outward  conditions. 
Smuggling  was  an  easy  method  of  voiding  the  navigation  laws.  Every 
sailor  was  a  smuggler ;  every  Colonist  knew  more  or  less  of  illicit  traffic 
or  industry.  Newport  and  Providence  were  ports  of  entry  and  exit  for 
goods  absolutely  banned  by  the  English  statutes.  Commercial  alienation, 
growing  out  of  the  deliberate  and  malignant  selfishness  of  English  legis- 
lation, was  the  first  great  resultant  of  this  treatment  of  the  Colonies  and 
this  led  naturally  to  a  demand  for  separation  and  independence.  Said 
.A^rthur  Young,  "Nothing  can  be  more  idle  than  to  say  that  this  set  of  men, 
or  the  other  administrations,  or  that  great  minister  occasioned  the  Amer- 
ican War.  It  was  not  the  Stamp  Act, — it  was  neither  Lord  Rockingham 
or  Lord  North,  but  it  was  that  baleful  spirit  of  commerce  that  wished  to 
govern  great  nations  on  the  maxims  of  the  counter."  The  seeds  of  the 
Revolution  of  the  American  Colonies,  in  1776,  were  planted  in  the  Colonial 
soil  a  half  century  and  more  before  by  the  English  statesmen  of  Great 
Britain,  led  by  a  Prussian  lord,  the  founder  of  the  English  house  of  Han- 
over, George  I. 

In  spite  of  all  hindrances  at  home  and  abroad,  the  English  Colonics  in 
America  were  the  most  valuable  of  the  dependencies  of  Great  Britain.  In 
the  Charter  Colonies,  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut,  all 
power  resided  with  the  freemen.  The  town  meeting  was  the  popular  arena 
where,  annually,  town  ofiicers  were  elected,  deputies  to  the  General  .As- 
sembly chosen,  taxes  voted,  roads,  bridges  and  schools  ordered  and  all 
matters  of  town  and  local  business  transacted.  This  was  freeman's  day 
where  freemen  were  in  the  process  of  development.  In  an  early  day,  all 
legislation,  having  passed  the  General  Assembly  was  subject  to  revision 
or  rejection  by  the  towns  for  a  limited  period,  following  the  rising  of  the 
General  Assembly. 

The  sessions  of  the  Genera!  Assembly  of  the  Colony  were  held  at 
different  towns  and  were  fairly  democratic  and  revealed  the  general  senti- 
ment of  the  Colony  on  public  measures.  No  laws  were  sent  to  England 
for  approval  and,  in  1730,  when  Governor  Jenckes  appealed  to  the  Crown 
for  a  support  of  his  attempted  veto  of  the  Paper  Money  Issue  Act,  he  was 
advised  by  the  legal  representatives  of  the  Crown  that  the  Governor  was 
a  part  of  the  law-making  body  and  hence  could  not  veto  his  own  acts  and 
was  still  further  advised  that  the  Crown  could  not  interfere  in  Colonial 
legislation,  to  approve  or  condemn.  A  community  choosing  its  own  rulers 
and  making  its  own  laws  was  not  a  Colony  in  any  true  sense  and  the  fact 
that  the  Qiarter  of  King  Charles  of  1663  became  the  Constitution  of  the 
State  is  full  proof  of  its  freedom  content.  Fisher  says  that  England  had 
never  fully  reduced  the  Colonies  to  possession,  had  never  fully  established 
her  sovereignty  among  them. 


700  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

Before  we  consider  the  attitude  of  Rhode  Island  toward  Colonial 
separation  we  must  state  the  social,  financial  and  religious  differences 
existing  in  the  Societies  on  the  Upper  and  Lower  Narragansett  Bay,  as 
they  had  a  distinct  bearing  on  the  issues  leading  up  to  the  War  for  In- 
dependence. Aquidneck,  as  we  have  seen,  was  settled  by  a  homogeneous 
body  of  families  bound  by  many  social  ties,  religious  sentiments  and 
common  experiences.  Most  of  the  families  were  well-to-do,  none  poor, 
some  were  wealthy,  all  superior  in  education,  most,  before  leaving  Boston, 
members  of  the  First  Church,  Rev.  John  Wilson,  minister.  Their  in- 
telligence, social  rank  and  wealth  enabled  them  to  maintain  a  controlling 
influence  in  the  Colony  for  more  than  a  century.  The  Narragansett 
country,  on  the  opposite  shore  of  the  lower  Bay,  was  settled  by  the  same 
class  of  people,  most  coming  from  or  through  the  Aquidneck  body.  Ex- 
cept as  divided  into  the  Baptist,  Congregationalist  and  Quaker  creeds,  they 
were  also  united  by  commercial  bonds  which  are  stronger  than  chains  of 
steel.  Socially,  civilly,  educationally,  religiously  and  commercially,  south- 
ern Rhode  Island  was  united  and  prosperous  and  happy. 

Northern  Rhode  Island  with  Providence  as  its  center  was  peopled 
by  men  and  women  of  small  means,  narrow  education  and  singularly 
diverse  views  as  to  law,  liberty  and  religion.  A  study  of  the  several 
leading  characters  that  made  Providence  society  will  show  that  "dis- 
tressed consciences"  are  not  happy  elements  in  town  or  Colony  building. 
Mr.  Richman,  in  his  lucid  work,  "The  Making  and  the  Meaning  of  Rhode 
Island,"  has  given  a  terse  and  most  accurate  statement  as  to  the  two 
settlements.  He  wrote,  "Now  that  the  Island  of  Aquidneck  had  become 
a  political  entity,  the  contrast  between  it  and  the  entity  (or  non-entity) 
Providence  was  marked  in  the  extreme.  By  Providence  there  was  sym- 
bolized individualism — both  religious  and  political — a  force  centrifugal, 
disjunctive  and  even  disruptive.  By  Aquidneck  (and  especially  by  the 
Newport  part  of  it)  there  was  symbolized  collectivism — a  collectivism 
thoroughly  individualized  as  to  religion,  but  in  politics  conjunctive  and 
centripetal.  *  *  *  During  the  age  of  Roger  Williams,  that  which  we 
are  forced  to  contemplate  on  the  shores  of  Narragansett  Bay  is  a  struggle 
for  supremacy  between  separatism  and  collectivism."  Prof.  Masson  de- 
scribes Roger  Williams  as  the  "arch  individualist."  Governor  Arnold, 
in  his  review  of  the  two  settlements  accords  to  both  the  same  general 
characteristics  pointed  out  by  Mr.  Richman  and  affirms  that  the  collectiv- 
est  spirit  gave  to  Aquidneck  priority  in  the  expression  and  illustration  of 
a  socialized  Democracy  on  the  basis  of  religious  liberty.  By  natural  pro- 
cesses out  of  the  Newport  collectivism  came  the  Code  of  Laws  of  1649, 
and  later  the  broader  code  of  Democracy  of  the  Royal  Charter  of  1663, 
penned  by  Dr.  John  Clarke,  the  founder  of  Aquidneck  and  its  institutions. 
Baptists,  Quakers,  and  Jews  found  a  "city  of  refuge"  at  Newport  and 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCE       701 

from  her  harbor  went  out  our  first  commercial  adventurers  and  privateers, 
the  first  to  make  commerce  possible  and  the  second  to  protect  it. 

"To  see  ourselves  as  others  see  us"  is  a  worthy  mutual  attitude  for 
individuals  and  for  society.  Let  us  look  through  other  eyes  and  note 
what  our  English  critics  saw  of  good  or  evil  in  the  Colony  of  Rhode 
Island,  in  the  progress  of  the  century  ending  with  Revolutionary  events. 

Samuel  Maverick,  once  of  Boston,  later  a  King's  Commissioner, 
writing  of  Aquidneck  in  K)6o,  said:  "It  is  full  of  people  having  been  a 
receptacle  for  people  of  several  sorts  and  opinions.  There  was  a  patent 
granted  to  one  Coddington  for  the  government  of  this  Island  and  War- 
wick and  Providence,  two  Townes  which  lye  on  the  maine,  and  I  think 
they  still  keepe  a  seeming  form  of  government,  but  to  little  purpose,  none 
submitting  to  supreame  authority  but  as  they  please." 

Col.  Richard  Nichols,  first  English  Governor  of  New  York,  made 
report  to  the  King  concerning  Rhode  Island,  in  1665 :  "All  proceedings 
in  justice  are  in  his  Majesties  name.  They  admit  all  to  be  freemen  who 
desire  it.  They  allow  liberty  of  conscience  and  worship  to  all  who  live 
civilly.  And  if  any  can  informe  them  of  anything  in  their  lawes  or  prac- 
tice derogatory  to  his  Majesties  honour,  they  will  amend  it.  The  Nary- 
hygansett  Bay  is  the  largest  and  safest  port  in  New  England,  nearest  the 
sea  and  fitted  for  trade.  *  *  *  In  this  Colony  is  the  greatest  number 
of  Indians,  yet  they  never  had  anything  allowed  towards  the  civilizing  or 
converting  them.  In  this  Province,  also,  is  the  best  English  grasse,  and 
most  sheep,  the  ground  very  fruitful,  ewes  bringing  ordinarily  two  lambs ; 
corn  yields  eighty  for  one,  and  in  some  places  they  have  had  corne 
twenty-six  yeares  together  without  manuring.  In  this  Province  only 
they  have  not  any  places  set  apart  for  the  worship  of  God,  there  being  so 
many  subdivided  sects,  they  cannot  agree  to  meet  together  in  one  place, 
but  according  to  their  scverall  judgments,  they  sometimes  associate  in 
one  house,  sometimes  in  another." 

In  1680,  Governor  Peleg  Sanford  gave  an  illuminating  answer  to  the 
British  Board  of  Trade.  As  it  shows  so  many  aspects  of  Colonial  condi- 
tions at  the  close  of  a  half  centurj-  of  settlement,  it  is  w-orthy  of  study. 
See  Kimball,  p.  7. 

The  noted  Edward  Randolph,  King's  Agent  to  our  Colony,  brought 
seven  articles  of  high  misdemeanor  against  the  Rhode  Island  Colony  in 
1685.  They  included  charges  of  illegal  fines,  taxes  and  arbitrary  impris- 
onment, laws  enacted  contrary  to  the  laws  of  England,  the  benefits  of 
English  laws  refused  to  English  subjects,  the  making  and  annulling  laws 
without  consent  of  the  General  Assembly,  no  legal  oaths  administered, 
and  the  violation  of  Acts  of  Trade. 

N.  N.,  an  English  writer,  name  unknown,  wrote  in  1690:  "Road 
Island  is  of  a  considerable  bigness  and  justly  called  the  garden  of  New 


702  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

England  for  its  fertility  and  pleasantness.  *  *  *  Here  is  a  medley  of 
most  perswasions,  but  neither  church  nor  meetinghouse  except  one  built 
for  the  Quakers,  who  are  here  very  numerous.  *  *  *  Many  of  the 
others  regard  neither  time,  nor  place,  nor  worship ;  and  even  some  very 
sober  men  have  lived  so  long  without  it,  that  they  think  all  instituted 
religion  useless."  He  tells  a  fine  story  that  Boston  banished  Quakers 
to  Aquidneck,  where  they  must  have  perished  from  hunger,  had  they  not 
dug  caves  in  the  hills,  where  they  were  fed  during  a  long  and  cold  winter 
by  the  Indians.  In  the  spring,  the  Indian  sachem  helped  them  to  land, 
manure  and  seeds,  "and  in  a  little  time  they  wrought  themselves  into 
good  estates." 

Lord  Bellemont,  Governor  of  New  England  from  1695,  was  a  bitter 
enemy  of  this  Colony.  His  report  made  in  1699,  on  the  Irregularities  of 
Rhode  Island  may  be  found  entire  in  Rhode  Island  Colonial  Records, 
Vol.  Ill,  385-387.  A  few  quotations  will  show  the  quality  of  the  docu- 
ment, the  motive  of  which  was  to  overthrow  the  Government  and  with- 
draw the  Royal  Charter. 

"They  (the  Colonists)  seem  wholly  to  have  neglected  the  Royall  in- 
tention and  their  own  professed  declaration  *  *  *  in  that  they  have 
never  erected  nor  encouraged  any  schools  of  learning  or  had  the  means 
of  instruction  by  a  learned  orthodox  ministry.  The  Government  being 
elective,  has  been  kept  in  the  hands  of  such  who  have  strenuously  opposed 
the  same;  and  the  generality  of  the  people  are  shamefully  ignorant,  and 
all  manner  of  licentiousness  and  profaneness  does  greatly  abound,  and 
is  indulged  within  that  Government."  *  *  *  He  complains  of  the 
ignorance  of  the  judges  of  the  courts  in  no  ways  adequate  to  justice  and 
says  "the  Attorney  General  is  a  poor  illiterate  mechanic,  very  ignorant" 
on  whom  the  Governor  and  assistants  rely  for  a  knowledge  and  inter- 
pretation of  law.  *  *  *  "John  Greene,  a  brutish  man,  of  very  cor- 
rupt or  no  principles  of  religion,  and  generally  known  to  be  so"  is  Deputy 
Governor,  while  more  worthy  gentlemen  "are  maligned  for  their  good 
affection  to  his  Majesty's  service."  The  original  document  is  worth 
reading  as  a  sample  of  hostile  criticism  of  the  Government  and  the  qual- 
ity of  the  literature  that  was  sent  to  the  King  and  Council  relative  to 
our  Colony. 

Governor  Joseph  Dudley,  of  Massachusetts,  writing  to  the  Board  of 
Trade,  London,  in  1702,  says:  "I  do  my  duty  to  acquaint  your  Lordships 
that  the  Government  of  Rhode  Island,  in  the  present  hands,  is  a  scandal 
to  her  Majesty's  Government.  It  is  a  very  good  settlement,  with  about 
2,000  armed  men  in  it,  and  no  man  in  the  Government  of  any  estate  or 
education,  though  in  the  Province  there  be  men  of  very  good  estates, 
ability  and  loyalty,  but  the  Quakers  will  by  no  means  admit  them  to  any 
trust." 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCE  703 

Cotton  Mather,  1662-1728,  writing  in  1702  in  the  Magnalia,  says,  "I 
behave  there  never  was  held  such  a  variety  of  religions  together  on  so 
small  a  spot  of  ground  as  have  been  in  this  Colony.  It  has  been  a  colluvies 
of  Antinomians,  Familists,  Anabaptists,  Anti-Sabbatarians,  Arminians, 
Socinians,  Quakers,  Ranters — everything  in  the  world  but  Roman  Catlv- 
olics  and  real  Christians,  tho'  of  the  latter,  I  hope  there  have  been  more 
than  of  the  former  among  them;  so  that  if  a  man  had  lost  his  religion, 
he  might  find  it  at  the  general  muster  of  opinionists." 

As  the  eighteenth  century  advanced  a  new  class  of  critics  appear, — 
men  of  education  and  of  clearer  insight  into  the  problems  that  were  in 
process  of  solution  in  a  little  Colony  that  had  held  its  station  in  the  midst 
of  larger,  more  influential  and  at  the  same  more  or  less  hostile  Colonial 
environment.  In  1729,  Bishop  George  Berkeley  came  to  Newport,  where 
he  spent  nearly  three  years  in  making  the  acquaintance  of  Rhode  Island 
people,  their  industries  and  institutions.  Writing  to  an  English  friend 
he  says :  "Dear  Tom.,  I  can  by  this  time  say  something  from  my  own 
experience  of  this  place  and  people.  The  inhabitants  are  of  a  mi.xed  kind, 
consisting  of  many  sorts  and  subdivisions  of  sects.  Here  are  four  sorts 
of  Anabaptists,  besides  Presbyterians,  Quakers,  Independents,  and  many 
of  no  profession  at  all.  Notvvith.standing  so  many  differences,  here  are 
fewer  quarrels  about  religion  than  elsewhere,  the  people  living  peaceably 
with  their  neighbors,  of  whatever  profession.  They  all  agree  in  one 
point — that  the  Church  of  England  is  the  second  best.  The  climate  is 
like  that  of  Italy,  and  not  at  all  colder  in  the  winter  than  I  have  known 
it  everywhere  north  of  Rome.  *  *  *  Xhe  town  of  Newport  contains 
about  6,000  souls,  and  is  the  most  thriving  flourishing  place  in  all  America 
for  its  bigness."  The  Bishop  found  that  the  people  of  Newport  had  worn 
off  part  of  the  prejudice  which  they  had  inherited  from  their  ancestors 
against  the  Church  of  England,  while  too  many  have  worn  off  a  serious 
sense  of  all  religion.  He  especially  commends  the  communities  where 
regular  worship  has  been  maintained.  Liquors  and  small  pox  have  con- 
sumed the  remnant  of  the  Indian  tribes.  The  religion  of  Indians  and 
negroes  takes  after  that  of  their  masters.  Bishop  Berkeley  brought  with 
him  to  America  Smibert,  the  distinguished  portrait  painter.  Both  made 
the  acquaintance  of  Robert  Feke,  born  in  Newport  and  at  the  time  fol- 
lowing his  profession  as  a  portrait  painter  in  Newport.  Bishop  Berke- 
ley's passion  for  education  and  literature  led  to  the  formation  of  a  lit- 
erary society  and  the  founding  of  Redwood  Library. 

fn  1737.  Rev.  John  Callender  delivered  the  historical  discourse  that 
marked  the  end  of  a  century  from  the  founding  of  Rhode  Island.  This 
review  was  an  antidote  to  all  the  harsh  criticism  that  politicians  of  the 
Tory  school  of  English  politics  and  of  the  New  England  school  of  jealoqs 
sectarian  religionists  had  poured  out  on  the  Rhode   Island  settlers  and 


704  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

settlements.  It  silenced  them  once  and  for  all  and  cleared  the  way  for  a 
development  and  progress  of  unequalled  value  and  extent  for  the  half 
century  that  followed. 

Rhode  Island,  in  1740,  and  the  years  following  was  sharply  divided 
into  two  classes  :  The  commercial,  consisting  of  the  tradesmen,  merchants, 
shipmasters  and  owners  and  capitalists  Of  Providence  and  Newport  on 
the  one  hand,  and  the  farmers  on  the  other.  The  enterprise,  energy  and 
prosperity  of  the  former,  while  it  ministered  to  the  interests  of  the  latter, 
at  the  same  time  created  a  feeling  of  jealousy  and  irritability.  As  the 
General  Assembly  was  numerically  in  the  hands  of  the  country  towns, 
legislation  was  shaped  by  the  agricultural  deputies,  who  were  always  in  a 
majority.  It  was  charged  that  the  Quaker  government  had  thrown  its 
influence  in  favor  of  agrarian  legislation.  Whether  true  or  not,  the 
Assembly  had  paid  no  heed  to  Parliament  or  the  Crown  in  its  Acts  and 
had  issued  paper  money,  in  the  interest  of  the  agricultural  class,  irre- 
spective of  the  protests  of  the  commercial  and  trader  people  and  the  ex- 
press edicts  of  Great  Britain.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  a  financial 
heresy  in  the  issuance  of  bills  of  credit,  in  opposition  to  the  Crown,  was 
the  first  overt  act  of  independence  of  our  Colony.  Rhode  Island  issued 
her  first  bills  of  credit  in  July,  1710,  following  the  example  of  Massa- 
chusetts, Connecticut,  New  York  and  New  Jersey.  It  was  condoned  by 
the  English  Government,  because  the  money  was  devoted  to  the  expenses 
of  men  and  transports  to  be  sent  against  the  French  at  Port  Royal.  The 
first  issue  was  £5,000,  in  denominations  from  five  pound  to  two  shilling 
bills,  to  be  equal  in  value  to  current  silver  of  New  England,  which  was 
eight  shillings  an  ounce.  They  were  to  be  redeemed  at  the  end  of  five 
years  and  were  secured  by  an  annual  tax  of  one  thousand  pounds,  levied 
solely  for  their  payment.  It  was  declared  a  felony  to  counterfeit  or  de- 
face the  bills.  This  act  was  sane,  well  guarded  and  patriotic  and  ex- 
pressed the  loyalty  of  the  Colony  to  the  Home  Government.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  but  at  this  period  the  New  England  Colonies  were  in  hearty 
accord  with  Great  Britain  in  driving  the  French  from  Canada,  at  the 
same  time  the  Colonies  were  exercising  themselves  in  the  qualities  essen- 
tial to  absolute  self-government. 

The  issuance  of  paper  money  in  1710  was  the  beginning  of  a  financial 
policy  full  of  disastrous  results  to  all  the  interests  of  the  Colony, — com- 
merce, agriculture,  politics,  society,  religion,  were  all  sufferers  from  the 
common  evil  of  fictitious  finance,  and  spurious  credit.  In  1730,  the  Col- 
ony of  Rhode  Island  had  issued  £195,300,  about  one  million  dollars,  in 
bills  of  credit  and  in  1731  added  £60,000,  about  $300,000  to  the  heavy 
load  of  paper  indebtedness  already  resting  on  the  people.  A  full  dis- 
cussion of  the  paper  money  issue  may  be  found  in  Field's  History  of 


lURTHPLACE  OF   MAJ.-(,KN.    NATHAXA  lU.   ( ,K  I'KXK,   WARWICK 


JAMES  DE  WOLF  MANSION 

Home  of  Samuel  Pomeroy  Colt,  Bristol,  R.  I. 
Built  about  1815 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCE  705 

Rhode  Island,  Vol.  Ill,  and  in  Weeden's  Economic  and  Social  History  of 
Nexv  England. 

While  the  paper  money  issue  by  the  Colonies  showed  the  easy  going 
method  of  England  with  her  Colonies,  it  created  a  distrust  on  the  part  of 
English  merchants  as  to  the  ability  of  the  Colonists  to  continue  to  meet 
their  obligations.     At  the  outset  the  soft  money  supplied  the  place  of 
gold  and  silver  sent  to  England  for  manufactured  goods,  and  had  the 
issues  of  the  paper  been  regulated  as  in  Pennsylvania,  no  injury  would 
have  resulted.     British  merchants  sold  to  New  England  Colonists  hard- 
ware and  merchandise  of  every  sort,  and  they  were  anxious  to  have  the 
Colonists  stand  on  a  gold  and  silver  foundation.    When  some  of  the  Col- 
onies attempted  to  pass  stay  laws  to  prevent  the  collection  of  debts  by 
British   merchants,   Parliament   enacted   that   a   merchant   had   the   same 
right  to  seize  private  property  in  Rhode  Island  as  in  England.     In  1751, 
Parliament  attempted  to  remedy  the  paper  money  evil  by  an  act  declaring 
such  money  an  illegal  tender  for  debt.    Here,  in  an  unstable  and  unsound 
financial  policy  adopted  by  the  farmer  class  of  Rhode  Island,  we  find 
the  creation  of  two  violently  antagonistic  parties,  and  the  creation  of  a 
force  divisive  of  the  relations  of  Colony  and  Crown  and  it  was  so  inter- 
preted by  the  English  mercantile  class.    The  Navigation  Acts  of  Parlia- 
ment and  the  Paper  Money  issues  of  Rhode  Island  were  premonitory  of 
an  impending  crisis.    Lecky  says:    "In  1748,  the  Swedish  traveler,  Peter 
Kalen,  visiting  the  American  Colonies,  noted  and  described  in  vivid  colors 
the  commercial  oppression  under  w-hich  the  Colonists  were  sulifering  and 
the  growing  coldness  of  their  feelings  toward  the  mother  country,  added 
these  remarkable  words:  'I  have  been  told  not  only  by  native  Americans, 
but  by  English  emigrants  publicly,  that  within  thirty  or  fifty  years,  the 
English  Colonies  in  North  America  may  constitute  a  separate  State  en- 
tirely independent  of  England.    But  as  this  whole  country  on  the  frontier 
is  kept  uneasy  by  the  French,  these  dangerous  neighbors  are  the  reason 
why  the  love  of  these  Colonies  for  their  metropolis  does  not  utterly  de- 
cline.    The   English   Government   has,   therefore,   reason   to   regard   the 
French  in  North  America  as  the  chief  power  which  urges  their  Colonies 
to  submission.'  " 

It  is  well  worth  our  wliile  here  to  note  a  few  of  the  men  now  enter- 
ing young  manhood  from'  1740  to  1760.  Nathanael  Greene,  the  Quaker 
Major  General  in  the  Revolution  was  bom  of  Quaker  parents  at  Pot- 
owomut  in  1742.  Stephen  Hopkins,  Governor  and  a  signer  of  the  Dec- 
laration was  a  deputy  in  the  General  Assembly.  Esek  Hopkins,  brother 
of  Stephen  and  first  Commander  .Admiral  of  the  United  Colonies  Navy 
was  born  in  1718.  William  EUery,  a  signer  of  the  Declaration,  was  born 
in  Newport  in  1727  and  was  a  graduate  of  Harvard  College  in  1747. 
Ri-45 


7o6  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

Samuel  Ward,  Governor  and  member  of  the  Continental  Congress,  was 
graduating  from  Harvard  College  in  1743.  James  M.  Varnum,  a  general 
in  the  Revolution,  graduated  from  Brown  University  in  1769,  laying  off 
the  student's  gown  to  don  the  military  coat  for  Revolutionary  service. 
Nicholas  Cooke,  War  Governor,  was  making  saltpeter  at  the  Colonial  out- 
break. John  Brown,  merchant,  patriot,  statesman,  hero  of  the  "Gaspee," 
was  born  in  Providence  in  1736.  Silas  Talbot,  naval  commander  and 
commodore  and  builder  of  the  frigate  Constitution,  was  a  captain,  age 
twenty-four,  at  the  siege  of  Boston.  Joshua  Babcock,  deputy  in  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  an  ardent  patriot,  friend  of  Franklin,  a  major  general  "of 
the  Colonial  Militia,  was  a  medical  practitioner  at  Westerly  at  the  out- 
break of  the  war.  Stephen  Olney,  leader  of  the  "Forlorn  Hope,"  was 
ploughing  the  fields  of  his  father's  farm,  a  lad  of  nineteen,  on  the  day 
of  the  Lexington  fight. 

These  men  were  a  fair  type  of  the  new  generation  of  Rhode  Island- 
ers that  was  to  bear  an  honorable  share  of  the  toil  and  sacrifice  for 
democracy.  Their  inheritance  was  one  of  physical  courage  born  of  the 
hardships  of  pioneer  life,  narrow  circumstance  from  hard  earnings  under 
the  limitation  of  restricted  trade,  and  a  home  education,  united  to  the 
catechism  and  the  three  R's.  Public  schools  were  not  known  and  all 
that  Harvard  and  Yale  had  done  was  to  give  the  people  an  educated  min- 
istry with  licentiates  for  law  and  medicine.  These  men  of  fair  learning 
had  done  much  to  help  forward  ambitious  youths  in  secondary  studies 
in  the  towns  where  their  lot  was  cast,  but  this  instruction  reached  but  a 
few  of  the  many.  Rhode  Island,  at  the  opening  of  the  Revolutionary 
period  was  an  illiterate  Colony  and,  if  the  opinion  of  our  sister  Colonies 
of  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts  are  accepted,  a  godless  Colony  as  well. 
The  story  goes  that  a  Rhode  Island  lad  spent  a  Sabbath  in  a  Connecticut 
town  and  in  answer  to  a  question  of  the  Catechism,  "How  many  Gods  are 
there?"  replied,  "Dad  says  you  have  three  Gods  over  here  in  Connecticut, 
but  we  haven't  a  darned  one  in  Rhode  Island,"  which  was  practically 
true  in  some  parts  of  the  Colony. 

The  half  century  from  1730  to  1780  witnessed  a  most  remarkable 
upheaval,  growth  and  controversy.  The  coming  of  Bishop  Berkeley  to 
Newport  in  1729  introduced  a  great  educational  and  religious  force  in 
the  metropolis  of  the  Colony.  As  a  devout  Churchman  he  gave  a  new  im- 
pulse to  the  young  churches  of  the  Colony.  As  an  educator  and  reformer, 
he  set  agencies  in  active  work  for  the  establishment  of  schools  and  the 
encouragement  of  secondary  and  higher  education.  In  science,  arts,  phil- 
osophy and  literature,  Berkeley  was  not  only  a  devout  student,  but  an 
expert  in  practical  work.  Whitehall,  his  country  seat  on  the  Island,  be- 
came the  magnetic  pole  of  the  religious  and  educational  interests  of  New 
England.     The   inspirational   value  of   Bishop   Berkeley   in   constructive 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCE  707 

work  in  Rhode  Island  cannot  be  overestimated  and  the  later  movements 
for  a  Colonial  college  are  traceable  to  Berkeley  and  Dr.  Ezra  Stiles.  The 
great  contribution  of  Berkeley  to  Rhode  Island  was  a  high  .idealism  along 
lines  of  civil  and  religious  liberty.  His  interest  in  missionary  work  among 
the  Indians  in  the  Colony  illustrates  his  philanthropy  and  democracy. 
His  gift  of  Whitehall  and  his  valuable  library  to  Yale  College  shows  his 
practical  benevolence  and  broad  Catholicism.  Smibert,  the  Scotch  artist 
who  accompanied  Berkeley,  not  only  made  a  permanent  record  by  his 
own  art  work,  but  directly  inspired  Allston,  Copley  and  West,  and  in- 
directly, Gilbert  Charles  Stuart  of  Rhode  Island.  It  is  to  the  great  honor 
of  Newport  and  to  the  immense  advantage  of  our  Colony  that  our  town 
by  the  sea  housed,  fostered  and  fraternized  two  of  the  greatest  educa- 
tional, social  and  religious  men  of  the  eighteenth  century,  George  Berke- 
ley, Dean  of  Derry  and  Bishop  of  Qoync,  and  Ezra  Stiles,  minister  of  a 
Congregational  Church  at  Newport  and  President  of  Yale  College. 

The  great  revival  of  religion  under  Jonathan  Edwards,  George 
Whitefield  and  the  Wesleys,  stirred  New  England  life  and  thought  to 
their  deepest  depths.  Rhode  Island  was  awakened  from  a  lethargic  con- 
dition to  spiritual  life.  The  reactions  of  eloquent  religious  argument  and 
appeal  were  tremendous  and  men  and  women  dead  in  sensual  things  were 
made  alive  to  the  truths  and  presentments  of  eternal  verities.  Vital  forces 
were  touched  and  energized  by  a  divine  force,  superior  and  absolute. 
Freedom  from  bondage  was  the  watchword, — a  freedom  that  involved 
civil  and  social  and  religious  relations.  Human  rights  and  righteousness 
were  parts  of  one  whole.  Free  will  and  freedom  were  shown  to  be  soul 
birthrights  of  all  men  of  all  races  and  conditions.  A  free  man  was  he 
whom  truth  made  free,  under  the  only  crowned  ruler,  the  King  of  ICings. 
The  Berkleian  philosophy  quickened  the  Rhode  Island  intellect.  The 
Whitefield  preaching  awakened  the  Rhode  Island  conscience.  Both 
opened  the  way  for  the  incoming  of  a  new  and  most  welcome  visitor, — 
Civil  Freedom.  While  these  great  divines  did  not  openly  teach  Colonial 
independence,  they  did  unify  and  consolidate  a  people  hitherto  separated 
by  individualism,  and  the  divisive  tenor  and  effect  of  selfish  living.  As  a 
resultant,  the  Puritan  Church  entered  upon  the  second  stage  of  its  devel- 
opment and  progress  towards  a  pure  democracy.  Prelacy  in  a  mild  form 
accompanied  the  Pilgrim  to  Plymouth  and  the  Puritan  to  Salem  and 
Boston.  Both  prelacy  and  democracy  are  innate  in  human  nature,  though 
antagonistic  to  each  other.  Puritan  prelacy  wrought  its  final  expression 
in  three  forms  of  worship  and  polity,  as  represented  in  church  organiza- 
tion in  Rhode  Island,  in  the  Protestant  Episcopal,  the  Presbyterian  and  the 
Congregational  bodies,  the  last,  including  Baptist,  Unitarian  and  other 
bodies,  in  the  same  democratic  polity. 


7o8  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

Three  men  were  the  standard  bearers  of  the  freedom  of  the  church 
member,  and  consequently  of  the  individual  church  in  the  civil  state, 
and  may  be  styled  the  Fathers  of  a  Free  Church  in  a  Free  State.  These 
men  were  Dr.  John  Clarke,  of  Boston  and  Newport,  Rev.  John  Wise  and 
Nathaniel  Emmons  of  Massachusetts.  As  the  church  of  the  eighteenth 
century  and  its  minister  held  an  influential  position  in  civil  society,  it  is 
well  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  mental,  religious  content  was  carried  over 
into  the  thought  processes  of  civil  society ;  that  the  polity  of  the  individ- 
ual church  might  be,  at  the  same  time  the  working  and  workable  basis 
of  the  state,  a  larger  brotherhood.  How  far  this  religious  democracy 
leavened  the  body  politic  it  is  not  easy  to  determine,  but  from  the  fact 
that  Rhode  Island  was  distinctly  a  Baptist  Colony  after  lyoo,  it  is  easy 
to  understand  that  the  Baptist  Church  membership,  while  sharply  individ- 
ualized in  creedal  statements,  even  to  the  crossing  of  a  t,  was  coherent 
and  passionately  fond  of  its  democratic  mode  of  government.  Congrega- 
tionalism and  independency  in  Church  were  the  basic  factors  of  loy^ 
alty  to  every  form  of  civil  freedom  in  the  eighteenth  century.  Prelacy 
nurtured  the  kingly  craft  and  Tory  loyalists  abounded  in  prelatical 
assemblies. 

The  philosophy  of  Congregationalism  as  a  church  polity  and  not  a 
creedal  basis  rested  on  the  doctrine  that  freedom  was  a  natural  law,  one 
of  the  soul-born  rights  of  man.  "All  authority,"  says  Wise,  "rests  in  the 
consent  of  the  whole  church,  not  on  account  of  Christ  as  head  and  con- 
troller, but  from  man's  nature  and  because  democracy  is  the  best  govern- 
ment for  both  church  and  state.  *  *  *  a  democracy  in  church  or 
state  is  a  very  honorable  and  regular  government,  according  to  the  dic- 
tates of  right  reason."  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  while  Congregation- 
alism was  repeating  to  itself  the  words  "freedom,  a  law  of  nature,"  Bur- 
lamaqui,  an  Italian  statesman,  a  Protestant,  at  one  period  of  his  life  a 
professor  of  learning  at  Geneva, — a  man  noted  for  practical  sagacity, — 
was  writing  a  work  on  "The  Principles  of  Natural  Law,"  which  came  to 
the  American  Colonists,  as  Fisher  says,  "as  the  most  soul-stirring  and 
mind-arousing  message  they  had  ever  heard." 

Burlamaqui's  little  book  of  300  pages  was  translated  into  English  in 
1748  and  became  the  handy  guide  book  of  freedom  and  independence  for 
the  patriot  Colonists.  In  a  clear  and  concise  style  the  author  had  sum- 
marized the  works  of  Clarke,  Locke  and  Beccarea,  and  the  book  had  found 
its  way  to  the  leading  minds  in  all  the  Colonies.  From  it  they  had  drawn 
wisdom  and  inspiration  in  preparation  for  the  work  of  Colonial  eman- 
cipation. "Natural  law,"  said  Burlamaqui,  "springs  from  the  consti- 
tution of  man  and  the  relations  he  holds  to  his  fellows.  This  state  of 
nature  is  not  the  work  of  man  but  of  divine  institution."  *  *  *  Nat- 
ural society  is  a  state  of  equality  and  liberty,  a  state  in  which  all  enjoy 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCE  709 

the  same  prerogatives.  *  *  *  Every  man  is  naturally  master  of  him- 
self and  equal  to  his  fellow  creatures.  *  *  *  The  human  under- 
standing is  naturally  right  and  has  within  itself  a  strength  sufficient  to 
arrive  at  truth." 

Here  we  have  liberty,  equality  and  the  right  of  private  judgment 
founded  on  man's  normal  nature,  and  all  conducive  to  a  purpose,  "the 
pursuit  of  happiness,"  a  term  which  admits  of  wide  interj^retations.  Civil 
government  exists  to  protect  natural  rights,  not  to  destroy  them.  The 
real  normal  ruler  is  the  depositary  of  the  will  and  strength  of  the  peoples 
governed.  One  set  of  people  have  no  right  to  rule  over  another,  except 
by  superior  wisdom  or  excellence,  a  condition  that  cannot  exist,  if  indi- 
vidual rights  arc  admitted.  All  men  are  bom  politically  equal,  hence  no 
one  has  a  natural  right  to  command  or  exercise  dominion.  A  subject 
people  can  exist  only  by  choice.  All  can  be  translated  into  the  declaration, 
"A  just  government  exists  only  by  consent  of  the  governed."  It  is  easy 
to  see  that  the  leaders  of  the  revolutionary  party, — Franklin,  Adams, 
Hancock,  Hopkins,  Henry,  Jefferson,  Hamilton  and  their  associates  were 
familiar  with  Burlamaqui  as  teacher  and  gviide  and  that  the  Colonists  of 
Rhode  Island  were  acquainted  with  these  principles  of  natural  law  and 
were  consciously  or  semiconsciously  gravitating  towards  independence, 
under  the  guidance  of  a  wise  and  philosophic  leader.  Mental  and  moral 
preparedness  waits  its  occasions.     In  due  time  it  came. 

We  have  seen  Rhode  Island  Colony  take  the  form  of  a  Democratic 
Commonwealth  in  the  early  years  of  its  foundation.  This  Democracy 
received  the  royal  sanction  and  charter  in  1663,  under  the  controlling  in- 
fluence of  its  prime  founder.  Dr.  John  Clarke.  For  a  century  from  that 
date,  the  Colonial  government  had  exercised  the  functions  of  a  free 
people,  with  but  few  exceptions  of  intrusions  or  interference.  The  eight- 
eenth century  had  been  one  of  growth  in  substance  and  idealism.  Various 
forces  in  Church  and  State  had  developed  a  new  patriotism,  centered  on 
Colonial  development  through  a  larger  independence.  Colony  began  to 
interchange  with  sister  Colonies  views  on  intercolonial  relations  for  mu- 
tual services,  information  and  protection.  Questions  as  to  Colonial  rights 
and  parliamentary  wrongs  were  raised  and  considered.  Grotius,  Locke, 
Beccaria  and  IJurlaniaqui  were  studied  and  their  conclusions  carefully 
weighed  and  by  many  minds  adopted.  Practical  questions  of  finance, 
taxation,  conunercial  relations,  representation,  legislation,  now  press  for 
solution  from  1740  to  1780. 

An  aggressive  and  constructive  policy  now  manifests  itself  in  legis- 
lation and  among  the  people  of  Rhode  Island.  Success  in  the  establish- 
ment of  the  western  boundary-  line  of  the  Colony  at  the  Pawcatuck  River 
leads  to  renewed  demands  as  to  the  fixation  of  the  eastern  bound.  In 
1740,  a  royal  commission  of  fifteen  men  was  appointed  to  agree  upon 


7IO  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

the  line,  to  prepare  a  map  of  the  territory  and  make  a  final  report  to 
the  King.  The  Court  met  at  Providence  in  June,  1741,  choosing  Cadwal- 
lader  Colden  as  president,  and  after  viewing  the  premises  and  hearing 
counsel  for  Rhode  Island  and  Massachusetts,  established  the  eastern  line 
as  follows:  The  north  end  of  Narragansett  Bay  was  fixed  at  Bullock's 
Point.  From  this  point  north,  the  line  followed  high  water  mark  to 
Pawtucket  Falls  and  thence  due  north  to  the  established  southern  line 
of  Massachusetts  and  northern  line  of  Rhode  Island.  The  Commission 
gave  to  Rhode  Island  all  the  land  within  three  miles  of  the  east  shore  of 
the  Bay,  measuring  three  miles  northeast  from  the  end  of  Bullock's 
Neck,  designating  five  places  from  which  the  three  mile  lines  were  to  be 
run,  to  the  east  and  south.  Both  Colonies  appealed  from  the  decision, 
their  appeals  were  heard  by  the  King's  Council  and  were  dismissed  and 
on  May  28,  1746,  a  royal  decree  was  issued,  confirming  the  decision  of 
the  court  and  establishing  the  eastern  line  as  described.  By  this  decree, 
the  territory  of  the  present  towns  of  Cumberland,  Barrington,  Warren, 
Bristol,  Tiverton  and  Little  Compton,  with  a  part  of  the  present  city  of 
Fall  River,  was  added  to  the  Colony  of  Rhode  Island.  On  January  27, 
1746-7,  the  General  Assembly  passed  an  Act  incorporating  the  townships 
included  in  the  new  territory  as  Rhode  Island  towns,  adding  to  Barring- 
ton  a  portion  of  territory,  north  of  Bristol  and  east  of  the  Barrington 
River,  and  naming  it  Warren,  in  honor  of  Rear  Admiral  Warren  of 
Louisburg  fame.  At  the  following  session  of  the  Assembly  in  February, 
1746-7,  Warren  and  Bristol  were  incorporated  as  Bristol  County,  with 
Bristol  as  the  Shire  town,  Tiverton  and  Little  Compton  were  added  to 
Newport  County  and  Cumberland  to  Providence  County.  Thus  ended 
during  the  Colonial  period  the  fight  a  century  long. 

The  issue  of  bills  of  credit  continued  in  the  New  England  Colonies, 
notwithstanding  the  efi^orts  of  Parliament  to  restrain  such  a  false  method 
of  finance.  The  House  of  Commons  sent  an  Address  to  Rhode  Island, 
complaining  of  the  injuries  to  British  commerce  and  suspending  the  fur- 
ther issue.  The  General  Assembly  paid  no  heed  to  the  order  and  created 
a  new  bank  of  £20,000  for  ten  years  at  four  per  cent.  This  issue  was 
styled  New  Tenor  from  the  fact  that  it  was  attempted  to  create  a  fixed 
value  by  estimating  silver  at  nine  shillings  an  ounce,  while  under  the  old 
bills  silver  was  rated  at  twenty-seven  shillings  an  ounce,  while  gold  was 
estimated  at  £6,  12s.,  4d.  an  ounce.  Two  assistants,  Benjamin  Ellery 
ajid  Peter  Bours  and  five  deputies,  one  of  whom  was  William  Ellery, 
entered  their  protests  against  the  issue,  but  without  results,  except  to  fix 
a  new  rating  of  gold  and  silver,  so  that  a  new  tenor  bill  was  four  times 
the  value  of  an  old  bill,  and  was  soon  required  to  be  taken  at  that  rate 
in  exchange.  In  January,  1740-41,  Governor  Richard  Ward  wrote  a  long 
letter  to  the  Board  of  Trade,  London,  in  defense  of  the  issue  of  bills  of 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCE  711 

credit  and  it  is  an  interesting  and  instructive  paper  in  favor  of  the  action 
of  the  Colony.  This  letter  is  to  he  found  in  Vol.  V,  Colonial  Records  of 
Rhode  Island,  pp.  8-14,  and  is  an  enlightening  document  on  the  reasons 
for  the  issuance  of  paper  money. 

The  second  Spanish  War,  in  1739,  roused  the  martial  spirit  of  Rhode 
Island.  Our  maritime  Colony  had  ships,  sailors,  stores  and  money  and 
although  Spain  held  supremacy  on  the  seas,  naval  warfare  was  the  fav- 
orite method  of  hostility  at  Newport  and  Providence,  and  our  privateers- 
men  usually  returned  to  port  with  rich  prizes,  at  small  expense  of  men 
and  money.  Spain  had  instituted  the  right  of  search  of  vessels  suspected 
of  contraband  trading  in  the  Spanish  American  Colonies.  England  and 
the  Colonies  were  constantly  violating  treaty  stipulations.  Newport  was 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  rum  from  Cuban  stock  so  that  the  war  be- 
came a  struggle  for  an  illicit  trade  by  our  Colony,  but  ostensibly  for  the 
freedom  of  the  British  flag.  The  "Molasses  Act"  of  1733,  imposing  a 
heavy  tax  on  importations  from  the  French  and  Spanish  West  Indies  was 
an  act  of  protection  of  the  British  sugar  islands  and  a  part  of  the  system 
of  protection  for  all  parts  of  the  empire.  Smuggling  had  become  an 
established  business  and  the  right  of  search  and  seizure  of  all  Spanish 
trade  threatened  the  interests  of  a  great  body  of  our  citizens  on  Narra- 
gansett  Bay,  as  well  as  the  merchants  of  Massachusetts,  Connecticut  and 
New  York.  One  Richard  Partridge,  a  Quaker,  had  been  the  Rhode 
Island  Colonial  agent  for  many  years  and  at  this  junction  he  appears  as 
the  representative  of  Rhode  Island  and  other  Colonies  in  opposition  to 
the"MoIasses  .•\ct"  and  other  acts  involving  taxation  of  the  Colonies.  In 
his  letter  to  the  English  Board  of  Trade,  enclosing  a  petition  for  a  repeal 
of  the  Act,  he  claimed  that  it  divested  the  Colonists  of  their  rights  as 
Englishmen,  in  levying  taxes  against  their  consent,  without  a  represen- 
tation on  the  floor  of  the  English  House. 

Here  we  have  the  first  utterance  of  the  war  cry  of  the  Revolution, — 
"No  Taxation  Without  Rkpresentation,"  issuing  from  the  mouth  of 
a  Rhode  Island  Quaker,  but  expressive  of  the  awakened  mind  and  re- 
enforced  courage  of  the  new  age  of  independence.  Not  only  did  Rhode 
Island  speak  clearly  and  forcibly  on  this  subject,  but  the  Assembly  voted 
"that  his  Honor  the  Governor  write  to  our  agent,  strenuously  to  oppose 
at  home,  the  making  any  addition  to  the  sugar  act,  that  so  much  afTects 
the  Northern  Plantations ;  and  that  his  Honor  also  write  to  the  neighbor- 
ing governments,  requesting  them  to  join  with  us  in  oppposing  the  same." 
It  was  Rhode  Island  initiative  that  declared  for  a  true  as  against  a  false 
principle  of  Colonial  control  and  still  more  it  was  the  voice  of  the  whole 
people  of  the  Colony,  speaking  through  its  General  Assembly,  that  invited 
the  combined  opposition  of  the  sister  colonies  to  the  acts  of  a  foreign 
Parliament. 


712  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

It  can  be  safely  recorded  that  the  Colony  had  been  true  and  faithful 
to  the  home  government  in  the  various  wars,  in  defence  of  England.  In 
Queen  Anne's  War  against  Spain,  1702-1713,  Rhode  Island  fortified  the 
mainland  and  the  islands,  and  maintained  coast  guards  and  garrisons. 
1707.  For  the  Dudley  expedition  against  Nova  Scotia  80  volunteers  and 
a  transport  were  furnished.  1709.  Two  war  vessels  and  several  trans- 
ports, and  200  soldiers  were  sent  on  an  expedition  against  the  French  in 
Canada.  A  tax  of  £1,000  for  war  purposes  was  raised.  1710.  Rhode 
Island  furnished  345  officers  and  men  for  the  e.xpedition  against  Port 
Royal.  171 1.  Twelve  sailors  and  167  soldiers  were  raised  for  an  expe- 
dition against  Canada.    The  treaty  of  Utrecht  ended  the  war. 

In  the  war  of  the  Austrian  Succession  in  Europe,  in  1739,  Rhode 
Island  repaired  fortifications,  and  established  garrisons  and  coast  guards. 
For  spreading  news  of  attack  beacons  were  erected  on  Block  Island,  at 
Point  Judith,  Watch  Hill,  Beaver  Tail,  Newport  and  Portsmouth.  In  1740, 
two  hundred  men  were  enlisted  and  equipped  for  an  expedition  against 
the  Spanish  West  Indies.  Many  died  of  disease  or  were  killed  in  an  un- 
successful attack  on  Carthagena  in  1741.  When  France  entered  the  war 
as  an  ally  of  Spain,  additional  precautions  for  defence  were  taken.  1744. 
The  colony  sloop  Tartar,  with  130  men  and  150  soldiers,  joined  Pepper- 
ell's  expedition  against  Louisburg,  which  surrendered  in  1745.  Besides 
the  colony's  own  quota,  350  Rhode  Island  men  were  sent  under  pay  of 
Massachusetts,  and  250  more  under  pay  of  Connecticut.  Rhode  Island's 
most  significant  service  to  England  was  on  the  sea.  Captain  Jones  and  a 
Rhode  Island  fleet  dispersed  a  French  force  going  to  the  relief  of  Louis- 
burg. In  1745  more  than  20  French  prizes  were  captured  by  Rhode  Island 
privateers.  One  Rhode  Island  privateersman.  Captain  John  Dennis,  was 
so  successful  that  a  French  war  vessel  was  sent  out  expressly  to  capture 
him.  Captain  Dennis,  after  a  four-hour  engagement,  captured  the  French 
war  vessel.  Altogether  more  than  100  French  vessels  were  captured  by 
Rhode  Island  privateers.  The  war  was  ended  by  the  Peace  of  Aix-la- 
Chapelle  in  1748. 

In  the  early  Indian  wars, — Pequot  and  King  Philip's, — the  Colonies 
suffered  all  the  perils  and  losses,  and  furnished  all  the  troops  and  supplies, 
without  calling  upon  Britain  for  any  aid.  In  the  later  stages  of  the  war, 
when  the  French  made  the  Indians  their  allies  and  our  northern  frontier 
was  constantly  threatened  by  hostile  attacks  and  our  coast  towns  exposed 
to  privateersmen,  Rhode  Island,  on  land  and  sea,  did  her  full  share  of 
offensive  and  defensive  work.  In  1754,  a  tax  of  £30,000  was  levied, 
£5,000  to  repair  the  fort  at  Newport.  1754-5-6.  Rhode  Island  raised 
various  forces  of  men;  the  number  in  service  reaching  750  at  one  time. 
A  regiment  of  500  men  was  raised  for  the  expedition  to  Crown  Point. 
Captain  John  Whiting  commanded  a  Rhode  Island  garrison  at  Fort  Wil- 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCE  713 

liam  Henry,  near  Lake  George.  1756.  A  new  regiment  of  500  men  was 
organized;  and  two  additional  compaiiies  of  50  men  each,  and  a  second 
regiment  of  500  men  were  raised.  Operations  were  abandoned  before 
the  second  regiment  was  prepared  for  marching,  and  it  was  disbanded. 
1757.  Another  regiment  of  500  men.  under  Colonel  Samuel  Angcll,  was 
enlisted.  The  regiment  saw  service  in  Canada.  After  the  French  victory 
at  Fort  William  Henry,  one-sixth  of  the  militia  was  drafted  and  ordered 
sent  to  Albany.  Two  hundred  and  fifty  freemen  from  Providence  volun- 
teered for  service,  and  were  preparing  to  march  when  news  that  the  French 
had  retreated  reached  the  town.  1758.  A  regiment  of  1,000  men  was 
raised  for  service  in  Canada.  Louisburg  surrendered.  More  than  2,000 
British  troops,  part  of  a  new  expedition  against  Canada,  were  quartered 
in  Providence.  Rhode  Island  troops  participated  in  the  disastrous  battle 
of  Ticonderoga,  and  in  the  capture  of  Fort  l'"rontenac.  1759-1760.  Rhode 
Island  maintained  a  regiment  of  1,000  men  in  service.  These  troops  par- 
ticipated in  campaigns  against  Quebec  and  Montreal.  1761-1762.  Rhode 
Island  furnished  400  men  for  an  expedition  against  thf  French  West 
Indies.  1762.  Rhode  Island  was  represented  by  262  men  in  an  expedition 
against  Cuba.     1763.    The  Peace  of  Paris  ended  the  war. 

Rhode  Island  joined  her  sister  Colonies,  cheerfully  and  promptly, 
in  furnishing  men  and  money  to  aid  in  protecting  the  home  government 
from  her  enemies,  but  refused  both  when  demands  were  made  to  con- 
tribute to  the  material  wealth  of  Great  Britain,  thereby  illustrating  the 
war  cry,  "Millions  for  defense,  not  a  cent  for  tribute." 

The  quarter  century,  between  1740  and  1765,  witnessed  a  great  social 
and  political  revolution  in  the  Colony  of  Rhode  Island,  in  the  course  of 
which,  the  worst  elements  of  individual  and  local  prejudice,  partisanship 
and  passion,  were  exercised  and  the  Colony  divided  into  two  hostile 
camps.  The  causes  of  the  great  upheaval  are  easily  stated  and  under- 
stood. For  over  a  century  Newport  held  the  political  control  of  the 
Colony.  The  United  Colony  of  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Planta- 
tions from  1647  to  1748,  a  full  century,  had  been  under  Newport  gover- 
nors, with  the  exception  of  eleven  years  and  the  exceptions, — Williams, 
Jenckes  and  Greene,  were  acceptable  to  Newport  politicians  and  people. 

Population,  wealth  and  intelligence  held  supremacy  in  the  South. 
In  1730.  Newport  and  Washington  Counties  had  a  population  of  11,618, 
while  the  north  part  of  the  Colony  reported  Providence  as  having  3,016, 
and  Kent  County  2,401.  Newport  and  South  Kingstown  were  the  wealth- 
iest towns  in  the  Colony.  Socially  and  [)olitically,  Newport  and  Wash- 
ington Counties  were  one  body.  Kent  County  was  divided  in  its  political 
choices,  while  Bristol  County,  created  in  1747,  took  sides  with  Providence. 

By  the  census  of  1748,  .Newport  and  Washington  Counties  had  grown 
to  19,498,  while  Providence  and  Bristol  had  9,941,  with  Kent  as  a  factor 


714  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

of  equal  promise  to  the  north  and  the  south  forces,  having  a  population 
of  4.384.  The  three  northern  Colonies  had  a  total  of  14,325  against 
19,498  on  the  south. 

The  people  of  the  Colony  were  divided  into  the  farming,  the  mer- 
cantile and  the  commercial  classes.  The  farmers  were  as  a  class  poor ; 
the  other  two  were  well-to-do  or  rich  for  their  day.  To  the  survival  of 
the  inherited  antipathies  of  an  earlier  generation,  arose  the  natural,  the 
inevitable  breach  between  those  who  have  and  those  who  have  not.  Social 
distinctions  breed  political  unrest  and  the  ballot  of  the  freeman  is  the 
great  leveller  of  men  and  society.  The  voter  must  be  a  landowner  and 
the  farmers  and  their  oldest  sons  had  voting  rights  and  pri\'ileges  and 
used  them. 

The  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century  was  not  a  religious  period, 
nor  was  it  distinctly  moral,  as  men  count  morals  of  the  twentieth  century. 
Men  and  women  knew  the  ten  commandments  and  most  had  memorized 
the  Shorter  Catechism,  but  they  had  no  idea  of  putting  what  they  knew 
in  daily  practice.  Slavery  and  the  slave  trade  were  treated  as  sources  of 
social,  economic  and  spiritual  profit.  The  manufacture  and  sale  of  rum 
brought  the  wealth  that  gave  rank  in  the  best  Rhode  Island  society.  A 
privateersman  and  a  smuggler  could  occupy  the  first  pews  in  the  Quaker 
meeting  and  in  old  Trinity.  The  house  that  could  not  support  its  side- 
board with  well  filled  decanters  of  rum,  gin  and  brandy,  was  not  held  in 
esteem  by  the  gentlemen  who  wore  breeches,  silver  knee  buckles  and  silk 
stockings,  and  the  ladies  with  gold  necklaces,  low  necks  and  flowing 
velvets.  The  farmer  had  his  regular  daily  draughts  of  hard  cider  at 
home,  slaking  his  evening  thirst  at  the  nearest  tavern,  where  town  and 
village  gossips  found  free  daily  circulation.  Debts  never  pressed  hard 
on  the  mind  or  conscience  of  the  debtor  class,  and  the  creditor  was  often 
equally  oblivious  of  a  neighbor's  rights  as  debtor.  It  is  no  wonder  that 
in  all  the  Colonies  of  New  England  loose  and  false  notions  of  finance 
should  prevail  and  put  in  practise.  At  the  outset,  barter  and  exchange 
of  goods  were  practised  and  the  Indian  peag,  easily  obtained,  was  used 
as  a  medium  of  trade.  Later  commercial  transactions  were  carried  on 
by  the  use  of  farm  products  as  media  of  business.  Corn,  rye,  oats,  bar- 
ley, beaver  skins,  were  rated  and  quoted  at  fixed  values  in  the  public 
market.    Later  came  silver  and  gold  as  standards  of  value. 

In  1640,  Massachusetts  Colony  passed  a  law  that  taxes,  debts  and 
labor  could  be  paid  in  "good  ould  Indian  corne,  growing  hear,"  at  5s. 
the  bushel,  summer  wheat  at  7s.,  rye  at  6s.,  and  silver  plate  at  55.  per  oz. 

The  paper  money  inflation  began  in  Rhode  Island  in  1710.  At  this 
time  silver,  the  standard  of  values  was  8s.  per  oz.,  on  exchange. 

Achilles'  wrath,  to  Greece  the  direful  spring 
Of  woes  unnumbered,  heavenly  goddess,  sing. 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCE       715 

The  peculiar  woes  of  the  Colony  of  Rhode  Island  afflicting  it  for  a 
century,  sjirang  from  an  inflated  paper  currency,  producing  a  controversy 
of  unparalleled  bitterness,  "distracting  whole  communities  and  even  divid- 
ing families."  The  first  issue  of  £5,000  in  1710.  was  followed  by  an- 
other of  £8,000  and,  in  1713,  by  anotlier  of  £50,000  on  the  plan  of  a 
public  bank,  loaning  bills  of  the  Colony  to  any  who  would  give  mortgage 
security  on  their  real  estate  and  by  paying  an  annual  interest  to  the  Col- 
ony. Two  parties  were  created;  "hard  money"  and  "paper  money."  The 
merchant  class  stood  for  hard  money;  the  farmers  for  bills  of  credit. 
Prior  to  1741,  the  Colony  had  issued,  in  round  numbers,  bills  of  credit 
amounting  to  £500,000. 

We  are  now  facing  the  immorality,  economic  and  political,  of  a  false 
financial  theory,  held,  maintained  and  practised  in  Rhode  Island,  in  such 
a  manner  and  to  such  an  extent  as  to  debauch  the  electorate,  arouse  the 
bitterest  partisanship  and  threaten  the  life  of  the  Colony.  Two  men 
present  themselves  as  the  representatives  of  these  parties, — Samuel  Ward 
and  Stephen  Hopkins, — both  men  of  marked  ability,  of  the  best  family 
and  social  connections  and  both  of  unquestioned  patriotism.  We  must 
show  a  reason  for  a  most  unreasonable  contest  between  otherwise  reason- 
able men.  Samuel  Ward'  belonged  to  the  Southland.  His  father  was 
Richard  Ward  of  Newport,  secretary  of  the  Colony  for  nineteen  years, 
and  governor  four,  a  brother,  Thomas,  was  secretary  of  state  many  years, 
and  another  brother,  Henry,  was  secretary,  thirty-seven  years.  All  in  all, 
the  Wards  were  a  family  of  natural  office  holders  and  most  faithful  ser- 
vants of  the  Colony.  Ward  married  .Xnnie  Ray  of  Block  Island,  settled 
on  a  dowried  farm  in  Westerly,  kept  a  village  store,  engaged  in  commerce 
both  at  Newport  and  Stonington,  and  raised,  improved  and  exported 
Narragansett  pacers.  Samuel  Ward  was  patrician  and  patron,  inheriting 
and  exercising  all  the  good  qualities  of  an  ancient  English  stock,  en- 
hanced in  value  by  a  college  education  at  Harvard  and  the  stimulation  of 
the  golden  age  of  Newport  literary  and  social  activity  in  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century. 

At  this  time,  Providence  had  put  off  the  lethargy  of  a  century  of 
idle  inactivity  and  provincialism  and  had  started  on  a  career  of  mercan- 
tile and  commercial  progress.  The  new  era  really  began  with  the  advent 
of  Nathaniel  Browne  of  Swansea,  a  descendant  of  the  third  generation 
of  Hon.  John  Browne  of  Wannamoisett.  Mr.  Browne  began  shipbuilding 
at  Weybosset  Point,  in  171 1.  Massachusetts  had  put  him  in  jail  at  Bristol 
for  not  paying  the  tax  imposed  upon  him  for  the  support  of  the  Reho- 
both  Church,  he  being  an  Episcopalian.  With  skill  and  means  at  com- 
mand, Browne  built  sloops  and  schooners  up  to  sixty  tons  in  size,  using 
timbers  from  the  forests  about  Providence  and  employing  townsmen  as 
ship  carpenters.    The  new  industry  gave  employment  to  seamen  and  the 


7i6  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

white  sails  of  commerce  began  to  appear  on  the  upper  Narragansett. 
These  vessels  carried  farm  produce,  timber  staves,  hoop  poles,  horses 
from  the  farms  about  the  town,  to  the  West  Indies  in  exchange  for 
molasses,  sugar  and  other  semi-tropical  products.  With  the  growth  of 
commerce,  old  Providence  began  to  thrive  in  wealth  and  people,  and  in 
1730  the  Plantations  were  divided  into  four  towns,  Providence,  Smith- 
field,  Scituate  and  Glocester.  It  was  at  this  period  that  the  enterprise  of 
the  Crawfords,  the  Browns,  the  Hopkins  and  other  families  began  to  man- 
ifest itself,  sending  its  commercial  travellers  far  and  wide  over  the  seas. 
The  four  "Brown  Brothers,"  Nicholas,  Joseph,  John  and  Moses,  all  gained 
wealth  and  eminence  as  merchants  and  in  1760,  the  Brown  family  was 
operating  no  less  than  eighty-four  sloops,  schooners  and  brigantines. 

The  merchants  and  ship  owners  of  Newport  must  have  viewed  with 
jealous  eye  the  increase  of  sailing  craft  that  passed  their  spacious  and 
inviting  harbor  for  the  little,  narrow,  shallow  harbor,  at  the  head  of  tide 
water — Providence.  Newport  was  the  metropolis  of  southern  New  Eng- 
land, but  it  has  a  rival  which  is  about  to  become  a  standing  challenge  to 
its  commercial  and  political  supremacy.  Still  more,  the  leader  of  the  up- 
state people  is  a  man  of  marked  ability, — a  member  of  the  country  yeo- 
manry, and  the  recognized  exponent  of  the  patriotism  and  spirit  of  the 
farmer  class,  from  which  he  sprang.  Stephen  Hopkins  of  Scituate  is 
the  recognized  champion  of  the  freemen  of  northern  Rhode  Island. 

Stephen  Hopkins  was  by  nature  a  progressive  and  his  entrance  into 
the  business  and  political  life  of  Providence  was  most  welcome  to  the 
new  generation.  He  was  the  representative  not  only  of  the  merchant 
class,  but  had  preserved  the  friendship  of  the  farmers,  in  his  si-lence  or 
apologistic  attitude  on  the  paper  money  question.  In  Providence,  the 
issue  of  money  was  not  raised  in  the  presence  of  a  more  important  matter, 
that  of  political  supremacy. 

The  revolutionary  process  by  which  the  sceptre  of  government  passed 
from  Newport  to  Providence  began  in  the  election  of  William  Greene  of 
Warwick  to  the  governorship  in  1743.  Mr.  Greene  had  been  lieutenant- 
governor  from  1740  to  1743,  and  succeeded  Governor  Richard  Ward, 
the  father  of  Samuel  Ward,  from  1743  to  1745.  Gideon  Wanton's 
w^ealth,  character  and  social  rank  won  him  the  office  of  governor  for 
two  single  terms  1745-6  and  1747-8,  contesting  the  office  with  Gov.  Greene 
who  wrested  it  from  Wanton  in  1746  for  a  single  year  and  again  in 
1748,  holding  it  for  seven  years.  It  was  during  Gov.  Greene's  career 
that  the  sectional  strife  began  which  continued  for  thirteen  years  in  an 
irrepressible  conflict,  terminating  in  a  drawn  battle  in  1768,  between  the 
chief  contestants,  with  the  victory  falling  to  the  Providence  party. 

It  is  difficult  to  state  the  adequate  causes  of  the  "Ward-Hopkins  con- 
troversy."    A  thorough  analysis  of  its  origin  would  undoubtedly  lead  to 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCE  717 

the  two  types  of  settlements  at  the  upper  and  lower  ends  of  the  r'>ay,  to 
the  vast  difTerences  in  character  and  potential  development  of  the  two 
sections,  and  the  divergent  tendencies  growing-  out  of  commercial  and 
educational  conditions.  The  two  sections  had  slight  communications, 
little  knowledge  and  complete  independency  of  each  other  except  in  the 
brief  sessions  of  the  General  Assembly.  On  questions  relating  to  the 
independence  of  the  Colony,  the  south  part  of  the  Colony  and  the  leaders 
of  the  Anglican  Church  were  intensely  loyal  to  the  British  Crown.  Prov- 
idence was  looked  upon  as  an  upstart  town,  with  an  ignorant  as  well  as 
a  poor  population.  They  were  people  that  could  be  led  by  a  strong  pop- 
ular leader  and  Stephen  Hopkins  "was  to  the  manner  bom."  He  was 
talented,  progressive,  popular.  As  the  cause  of  Colonial  independence 
progressed,  Mr.  Hopkins  became  the  idol  of  the  three  northern  counties, 
the  great  majority  of  whom  espoused  the  cause  of  the  Colony  against  the 
King.  Hopkins  was  ambitious  for  office  and  the  people  chose  him  to 
every  office  in  their  gift.  In  1754,  Hopkins  was  one  of  the  delegates  to 
represent  the  Colony  in  the  Albany  Congress,  and  here  his  great  abilities 
were  recognized  and  his  ideas  as  to  Colonial  independence  enlarged.  At 
this  time  he  made  close  friendship  with  Franklin,  endorsing  fully  his 
ideas  and  purposes.  He  also  entered  into  correspondence  with  leading 
men  in  the  other  colonies  with  reference  to  relations  with  Great  Britain, 
thereby  forming  valuable  acquaintances  and  friendships  of  a  lasting 
quality  and  brought  him  into  the  front  rank  of  patriots  at  home. 

The  details  of  the  war  between  Samuel  Ward  of  Westerly  and  Ste- 
phen Hopkins  of  Providence  are  too  voluminous,  distressing  and  humil- 
iating to  be  entered  into  except  for  the  trouble-monger.  The  political 
fight  waged  hot  in  1756-7,  when  Ward  aided  Governor  William  Greene 
of  W'arwick  to  defeat  Mr.  Hopkins  for  re-election  in  May.  1757,  at  the 
same  time  subjecting  himself  to  a  suit  for  libel.  Governor  Greene  died 
Feb.  22.  1758,  and  Governor  Hopkins  was  elected  to  fill  the  unexpired 
term  and  was  re-elected  until  May,  1762.  when  Ward  won  the  governor- 
ship for  one  year.  Hopkins  was  elected  for  two  years  from  1763-5,  and 
Ward  followed  for  two  years  from  1765-7,  to  be  succeeded  by  Hopkins 
for  one  year.  1767-8,  when  a  truce  was  declared,  both  retired  from  the 
gubernatorial  field  and  a  Newport  man,  formerly  secretary  of  state,  Josias 
Lyndon,  was  chosen  to  the  chief  state  office  for  a  single  year. 

Roth  Hopkins  and  Ward  were  able  men  and  governors  and  their 
administrations  rank  among  the  first  in  the  Colony,  but  their  political 
relations  were  hateful,  their  methods  contemptible.  The  Colony  was 
divided  into  two  hostile  camps — Ward  and  Hopkins.  Families  were  di- 
vided, neighborhoods  broken  up,  old  time  friendships  and  social  order 
destroyed  and  the  electorate  was  debauched  by  the  free  use  of  money  in 
the  purchase  of  votes.     A  vote  could  be  bought  for  the  price  of  a  pig. 


7i8  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

In  King's  County,  Ward's  home,  the  contest  was  the  fiercest  and  vitupera- 
tion and  money  flowed  freest.  Prof.  Gammell  says,  "neighbor  was  ar- 
rayed against  neighbor  and  family  against  family,  in  an  irreconcilable 
feud."  Foster  writes,  "the  issues  were  hopelessly  mixed,  and  it  is  not 
easy  to  discriminate  accurately  between  them."  He  explains  Hopkins' 
policy  and  act  was  the  result  "of  a  temporary  madness."  *  *  *  "In 
the  case  of  Ward,  it  is  equally  difficult  to  comprehend  the  blindness  of  this 
partisan  feud."  The  spring  of  1768  witnessed  conditions  in  the  relations 
of  the  Colonies  to  Great  Britain  that  called  for  patriotism  to  still  the  strife 
of  local  politics  and  Governor  Hopkins  proposed  a  union  of  the  factions, 
by  the  withdrawal  of  each  of  the  leaders,  himself  and  Governor  Ward, 
and  the  nomination  of  a  ticket  for  Colonial  officers  agreeable  to  both. 
The  plan  was  adopted,  the  two  parties  were  imited.  They  now  turned 
their  thoughts  from  personal  quarrels  and  local  politics  to  prepare  for  a 
more  momentous  struggle,  in  which  the  Colony  was  about  to  engage. 
Historian  Arnold  closes  his  record  of  "this  most  violent  party  strife"  with 
a  clear  and  forcible  statement  of  the  issues  that  claimed  the  united  atten- 
tion of  the  American  Colonies.  (History  of  the  State  of  Rhode  Island, 
etc.,  Vol.  II,  pp.  282-3). 

By  the  Treaty  of  Paris,  Feb.  10,  1763,  the  century-long  contest  came 
to  an  end,  with  England  at  peace  with  France,  Spain  and  Portugal.  Lecky 
says:  "No  part  of  the  British  Empire  had  gained  so  largely  by  the  late 
war  and  the  ministry  of  Pitt.  The  expulsion  of  the  French  from  Canada 
and  of  the  Spaniards  from  Florida,  by  removing  forever  the  danger  of 
foreign  interference,  had  left  the  Colonists  almost  absolute  masters  of 
their  destinies,  and  had  dispelled  the  one  dark  cloud  which  hung  over  their 
future.  No  serious  danger  any  longer  menaced  them.  No  limits  could 
be  assigned  to  their  expansion.  Their  exultation  was  unbounded,  and  it 
showed  itself  in  an  outburst  of  genuine  loyalty."  The  name  of  Fort 
Duquesne  was  changed  to  Pittsburg,  in  honor  of  the  great  minister,  to 
whom  the  Colonies  owed  so  much  and  Massachusetts  voted  a  costly  mon- 
ument in  Westminster  Abbey  to  Lord  Howe,  who  had  fallen  in  the  con- 
quest of  Canada.  There  was  great  reason  in  the  gladness  of  the  Colonies, 
for  our  enemies,  the  French  on  the  north,  the  Indians  on  the  northwest 
and  west  and  the  Spaniards  on  the  south,  had  been  vanquished  and  our 
gates  were  free  from  assault,  for  Great  Britain  was  now  mistress  of  the 
western  lands  and  seas. 

The  British  Empire  had,  in  1763,  8,000,000  people  on  her  home  soil, 
but  those  people  were  poor  and  already  heavily  burdened  with  taxes. 
Grenville  stated  "that  the  late  war  had  found  us  70  millions  and  had  left 
us  more  than  140  millions  in  debt.  He  knew  that  all  men  wished  not  to 
be  taxed,  but  in  these  unhappy  circumstances  it  was  his  duty  as  a  steward 
for  the  public  to  make  use  of  all  just  means  for  improving  the  public 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCE       7^9 

revenue."  The  Prime  Minister  also  stated  that  after  the  Peace  of  Aix- 
la-Chapelle,  in  1748,  the  American  civil  and  mihtary  establishment  was 
only  £70,000  a  year,  but  it  was  now,  in  1764,  £350,000  a  year.  This 
was  incurred  on  Colonial-American  account  and  he  thought  that  America 
ought  to  contribute  toward  it,  paying  a  part  at  least.  Grenville  advocated 
the  stamp  tax  as  the  surest,  the  easiest  to  collect  and  the  most  equitable 
as  it  would  fall  exclusively  on  property  and  could  be  collected  by  very 
few  officers.  "I  am  not,  however,"  he  said,  "set  upon  this  tax.  If  the 
Americans  dislike  it,  and  prefer  any  other  method  of  raising  the  money 
themselves,  I  shall  be  content.  Write  therefore  to  your  several  Colonies, 
and  if  they  choose  any  other  mode  I  shall  be  satisfied,  provided  the  money 
be  raised."  The  taxation  measure  was  postponed  for  a  year  from  1764 
to  1765  to  ascertain  fully  the  sentiments  of  the  people  of  the  American 
Colonies  as  to  the  best  and  to  them  the  most  satisfactory  way  of  aiding 
the  British  revenues.  From  the  British  standpoint,  the  taxation  of  the 
Colonies  in  aid  of  the  home  government,  for  protection  at  least,  seemed 
a  reasonable  proposition.  Franklin  had  given  his  assent  to  a  taxation  for 
protection,  in  1764,  when  he  wrote:  "It  is  very  possible  that  the  Crown 
may  think  it  necessary  to  keep  troops  in  America  henceforward,  to  main- 
tain its  conquests  and  defend  the  Colonics,  and  that  the  Parliament  may 
establish  some  revenue  arising  out  of  the  .Xmerican  trade  to  be  applied 
towards  supporting  these  troops.  It  is  possible  too  that  we  may,  after  a 
few  years'  experience,  be  generally  very  well  satisfied  with  that  measure, 
from  the  steady  protection  it  will  afTord  us  against  foreign  enemies  and 
the  security  of  internal  peace  among  ourselves  without  the  trouble  and 
expense  of  a  standing  army  of  our  own." 

What  shall  be  said  for  the  Colonies  ?  WTiat  for  Rhode  Island  ?  The 
story  of  Charles  Reade's  "Needle  Knight"  of  the  Middle  Ages  fits  Colon- 
ial conditions  in  1764, — "Tuta,  tuta,  tuta,  tuta, — Too  much  taxes."  It 
was  altogether  reasonable  for  the  British  ministry  and  Crown  to  consult 
with  her  Colonies  in  matters  of  finance,  for  we  were  an  integral  part  of 
the  Empire  as  much  as  Ireland  and  India  and  Australia  and  Canada  are 
to-day.  No  law,  custom,  tradition  or  reason  exempted  the  thirteen  Col- 
onies from  a  reasonable  form  of  revenue.  "No  taxation  without  repre- 
sentation" availed  not  nor  does  it  now  in  all  just  demands  of  the  English 
Crown  on  its  subject  Colonies  the  world  over.  It  served  as  a  political 
and  popular  outcry  against  any  and  all  forms  of  taxation  but  it  did  not 
satisfy  the  judicial  mind  or  the  sober  thought.  It  is  true  that  both  Pitt 
and  Burke  used  the  argument  of  non-representation,  as  a  reason  for  the 
repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act,  claiming  that  the  presence  of  Lxjndon  Colonial 
Agents  at  the  British  Court  was  not  in  a  true  sense  a  fair  and  full  repre- 
sentative act.  But  both  had  suggested  that  representation  in  the  British 
Parliament,  on  the  basis  of  population,  or  a  Colonial  Parliament  were  the 


720  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

only  true  and  just  means  of  conciliating  the  American  Colonies  and  pre- 
serving the  liberties  of  English  subjects  in  America.  Burke's  speech  on 
Conciliation  in  the  House  of  Commons,  March,  1775,  was  not  only  a 
masterly  defense  of  the  Colonies,  but  it  was  at  the  same  time  a  clear 
exposition  of  the  British  principle  of  free  government,  freed  from  the 
autocratic  spirit,  expressed  by  George  III,  in  his  treatment  of  the  Amer- 
ican Colonies,  since  1763.  Pitt's  speech  of  1766  denied  the  right  of  tax- 
ation of  the  Colonies,  asserting  that  that  right  inhered  in  the  Colonial 
legislatures  and  was  limited  to  them  by  Colonial  charters,  and  could  not 
be  exercised  by  the  Crown,  without  making  slaves  of  British  Colonial  sub- 
jects. Both  statesmen  approved  of  external  taxation  through  revenue 
laws  that  applied  alike  to  all  nations,  while  both  opposed  laws  of  direct 
or  internal  taxation,  like  the  Stamp  Act,  as  illegal,  immoral  and  uncon- 
stitutional. This  view  was  opposed  by  Lord  Mansfield,  the  Grenville 
ministry  and  by  a  large  majority  of  the  Commons,  and  the  Stamp  Act 
was  passed,  to  go  into  effect  Nov.  i,  1765.  This  act  known  in  history 
as  the  Grenville  Stamp  Act,  provided  for  the  raising  of  revenue  in  the 
American  Colonies  by  the  sale  of  stamps  and  stamped  paper  for  com- 
mercial transactions,  real  estate  transfers,  lawsuits,  marriage  licenses,  in- 
heritances, newspapers,  etc. ;  it  also  provided  that  the  British  soldiers  in 
the  Colonies  should  be  quartered  in  the  homes  of  the  people.  Parliament, 
also,  without  a  division,  voted  that  it  "had  a  right  to  tax  the  Colonies." 
This  coercive  and  revolutionary  measure  passed  the  House  of  Commons, 
March  8,  1765,  was  concurred  with  by  the  House  of  Lords  without  debate 
and  received  the  signature  of  a  Commission,  acting  for  "a  monarch  whose 
mind  was  wandering  with  insanity." 

Let  us  look  a  little  at  the  condition  of  the  thirteen  American  Colonies 
at  this  time  as  given  to  the  English  ministry  by  Dr.  Benjamin  Franklin. 
He  said  there  were  about  300,000  white  men  in  the  Colonies  between  16 
and  60  years  of  age ;  that  the  population  doubles  in  about  25  years ;  that 
the  Colonists  raised,  clothed  and  paid  during  the  late  war  near  25,000 
men  and  spent  many  millions  of  money ;  that  they  paid  many  and  heavy 
taxes  amongst  themselves  for  the  support  of  the  civil  and  military  estab- 
lishment of  the  country  and  for  the  debts  contracted  in  the  war.  His 
answer  to  the  question,  "What  was  the  temper  of  America  towards  Great 
Britain  before  the  year  1763?"  is  very  remarkable  but  true:  "The  best  in 
the  world ;  they  submitted  willingly  to  the  government  of  the  Crown,  and 
paid  in  all  their  courts  obedience  to  Acts  of  Parliament.  Numerous  as 
the  people  are  in  the  several  old  provinces,  they  cost  you  nothing  in  forts, 
citadels,  garrisons  or  armies  to  keep  them  in  subjection.  They  were  gov- 
erned by  this  country  at  the  expense  only  of  a  little  ink,  pen  and  paper. 
They  were  led  by  a  thread.  They  had  not  a  respect  but  an  afifection  for 
Great  Britain,  for  its  laws,  its  customs  and  manners,  and  even  a  fond- 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCE  721 

noss  for  its  fasliions,  that  greatly  increased  tlie  commerce.  Natives  of 
tireat  I'ritain  were  always  treated  with  peculiar  regard.  To  be  an  Old- 
England  man  was  of  itself  a  character  of  some  respect,  and  gave  kind  of 
rank  amongst  ns." 

To  the  question.  "Will  the  people  of  America  submit  to  pay  the  Stamp 
duty  if  moderated?"  Franklin  replied,  "No,  never,  unless  compelled  by 
force  of  arms !"  He  further  stated  that  the  Colonists  held  that  they 
could  not  justly  he  taxed  by  a  Parliament  in  which  they  were  not  repre- 
sented, but  would  not  dispute  revenue  laws,  since  they  drew  a  wide  dis- 
tinction between  internal  and  external  taxes.  They  could  refuse  the 
dutiable  article,  but  could  not  avoid  a  forced  tax.  They  could  do  without 
English  clothes  and  wool,  for  the  people  would  raise  their  own  sheep, 
spin  and  make  their  own  clothes.  To  the  question,  "Would  the  Assembly 
of  America  acknowledge  the  right  of  Parliament  to  tax  them?"  his  finp 
answer  was,  "Never,  no,  never!" 

I'ew  questions  of  state  policy  had  ever  exercised  the  minds  of  Eng- 
lish statesmen  so  profoundly  and  called  forth  the  most  forcible  arguments 
for  and  against  the  taxation  of  the  Colonies  as  proposed  in  the  direct  tax 
of  the  Stamp  Act.  Grenville  led  the  ministry,  ably  seconded  by  Lord 
Mansfield, — William  Murray, — one  of  the  greatest  classical  and  historical 
scholars  England  has  ever  produced.  Although  a  Tory,  Chief  Justice 
Story  said  of  Mansfield,  "England  and  America,  and  the  civilized  world 
lie  under  the  deepest  obligations  to  him."  His  speech  on  "The  Right  of 
Taxation,"  delivered  in  the  House  of  Lords,  is  the  most  complete  argu- 
ment ever  made  in  its  defence.  Lord  Campbell,  a  Whig  in  sentiment,  said 
that  the  speech  of  Mansfield  was  one  to  which  he  "was  never  able  to  find 
an  answer."  Eloquent  and  captivating  answers  were  made  by  Col.  Isaac 
Barre,  Gen.  Conway,  William  Pitt  and  Edmund  Burke,  Whig  advocates 
of  the  interests  and  rights  of  the  American  Colonies. 

On  the  side  of  the  Colonies  the  protests  were  prompt  and  forcible. 
Franklin's  answer  was  endorsed  from  Massachusetts  to  the  Carolinas. 
Mr.  Joseph  Sherwood,  a  London  attorney-at-law  was  agent  of  the  Rhode 
Island  Colony  at  the  Court  of  Great  Britain.  In  January,  1764,  the  Colony 
had  issued,  from  the  pen  of  Governor  Stephen  Hopkins,  a  spirited  and 
comprehensive  remonstrance  to  the  renewal  of  the  Sugar  Act.  This  able 
state  paper  was  a  complete  answer  to  the  arguments  of  English  revenue 
officers  in  the  imposition  of  the  original  tax  and  shows  a  k-nowledge  of 
trade  conditions  and  that  England's  markets  would  be  vastly  advantaged 
by  the  removal  of  the  almost  prohibitive  tax,  which  led  up  to  general 
smuggling.  As  a  result,  the  revised  sugar  act  of  Ajiril  5,  1764,  reduced 
the  tariff  on  the  imports  of  molasses  and  sugar  by  one  half,  but  levied 
new  duties  on  coffee,  pimento,  French  and  East  India  goods,  and  wines 

R  1-16 


722  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

from  Madeira  and  the  Azores,  which  had  hitherto  been  admitted  free. 
Gov.  Hopkins'  paper  may  be  read  in  the  Rhode  Island  Colonial  Records, 
Vol.  VI,  pp.  378-83. 

In  November,  1764,  Gov.  Hopkins  sent  a  message  to  the  General 
Assembly  on  "the  dangers  that  threaten  this  Colony  with  respect  to  the 
people's  liberties.  *  *  *  The  burdens  put  on  the  trade  of  the  north- 
ern Colonies  by  a  late  act  of  Parliament  are  severely  felt ;  the  stamp  duties 
intended  to  be  laid  upon  them  will  be  a  still  heavier  burden ;  and  the  plan 
formed  by  the  Britisli  ministry  to  raise  as  much  money  in  America  as  has 
been  expended  must  complete  our  ruin."  A  committee  of  the  General 
Assembly,  consisting  of  the  Governor,  Nicholas  Tillinghast,  Joseph  Lip- 
pitt,  Joshua  Babcock,  Daniel  Jenckes,  John  Cole  and  Nicholas  Brown, 
reported  an  address  to  his  Majesty  in  relation  to  the  duties  and  imposts 
laid  and  proposed  to  be  laid  on  this  Colony.  It  closes  with  the  devout 
prayer  "that  while  your  Majesty's  subjects  justly  exult  in  being  governed 
by  the  best  of  Kings,  the  father  of  his  people  and  the  guardian  of  their 
liberties,  your  loyal  Colonies  may  not,  in  your  glorious  reign,  suffer  any 
diminution  of  the  advantages  they  have  hitherto  enjoyed. 

"Whatever  may  be  determined  concerning  them,  the  Governor  and 
company  of  Rhode  Island  will  ever  remain,  unalterably  your  Majesty's 
most  loyal,  most  dutiful  and  most  obedient  subjects." 

It  seems  almost  treason  to  question  the  honesty  of  utterances  of  such 
men  as  Hopkins,  Babcock,  Jenckes  and  Brown  as  expressed  in  the  closing 
paragraph  of  the  address  to  the  King,  but  when  read  in  connection  with 
the  charges  of  ruining  the  Colony,  the  total  loss  of  trade,  the  dangers  of 
the  loss  of  trial  by  jury,  the  dreadful  portent  of  a  stamp  act,  the  draining 
of  the  Colonies,  already  very  poor,  of  the  little  money  they  have,  etc.,  etc., 
the  balance  may  show  a  fair  degree  of  loyalty  of  Colony  to  the  Crown, 
deducing  the  usual  adulations  of  subjects  to  the  kingly  power. 

There  followed  this  address  a  state  paper,  written  by  Governor  Hop- 
kins, which  for  philosoi^hic  statement,  accurate  and  general  scholarship, 
historic  knowledge,  a  thorough  understanding  of  the  laws  of  trade.  Col- 
onial, national  and  international,  a  masterly  defence  of  Colonial  rights 
versus  Parliamentary  claims,  a  fine, — almost  a  refined  sense  of  loyalty, — 
to  the  real  Constitution  of  England  and  of  the  obligations  of  the  Colonies 
to  the  Home  Government,  and  finally  for  a  patriotic,  a  fervent  devotion 
to  the  principles  of  liberty — "the  measure  of  the  magistrates'  power  and 
the  people's  obedience,"  equals,  if  it  does  not  surpass,  any  state  papers 
of  the  Revolutionary  Period.  This  masterly  document,  styled  "The 
Rights  of  Colonies  Examined,"  was  sent  to  the  Colonial  Agent  in  Lon- 
don as  expressing  the  sentiments  of  the  Colony  of  Rhode  Island,  on  topics 
vital  to  Colonial  life  and  liberty.  It  is  well  worth  while  to  call  this  ad- 
dress adopted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  Rhode  Island  as  our  Deci„\RA- 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  LXDEPENDENCE       723 

TioN  OF  Rir.HTS, — the  first  full,  clear,  incontrovertible  statement  issuing 
from  any  Colony,  relative  to  the  duties  and  obligations  of  the  Crown  to 
onh:,  and  if  to  one,  to  all  the  American  Colonies.  This  great  document 
stam[)s  Stephen  Hopkins  as  one  of  the  greatest  of  American  statesmen. 
It  should  be  read  by  every  Rhode  Islander,  who  wishes  to  know  the  causes 
of  the  American  Revolution  and  the  men  who  championed  it.  (See 
Rhode  Island  Colonial  Records,  \'ol.  VI,  pp.  414-427,  Ed.  1861). 

A  new  menace  threatened  the  liberties  of  the  Colony  of  Rhode  Island 
in  a  petition  of  a  body  of  royalists  to  reduce  our  "republic,"  as  it  was 
called,  to  the  position  of  the  royal  Colonies.  The  two  "republics"  of 
Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut  were  to  be  dissolved,  under  the  "new  ar- 
rangement of  New  England"  as  proposed  by  Sir  Francis  Bernard,  the 
royal  Governor  of  Massachusetts.  New  York  Colony  was  to  have  the 
Connecticut  River  for  its  eastern. bound  and  Massachusetts  was  to  include 
the  territory  from  the  Connecticut  River  to  the  Piscataqua,  thereby  ex- 
tinguishing the  Colonies  of  Connecticut,  Rhode  Island  and  New  Hamp- 
shire. Governor  Hopkins,  ever  on  the  alert  for  political  mischief,  aided 
in  ending  the  new  scheme.  But  the  Stamp  Act  passed.  The  appeals  of 
the  Colonies  were  fruitless.  "We  might,"  said  Franklin,  "as  well  have 
hindered  the  sun's  setting."  "We  have  power  to  tax  them  and  we  will  ta.x 
them,"  said  one  of  the  ministers  of  the  Crown.  Grenville  decided  to 
select  Americans  as  stamp  officers  and  the  agents  of  the  Colonies  were 
invited  to  make  the  nominations.  Franklin,  representing  Pennsylvania, 
chose  a  friend  as  Stamp  Commissioner  for  that  Colony.  Not  one  of  the 
Colonial  Agents  in  London  "imagined  the  Colonies  would  think  of  dis- 
puting the  Stamp  Tax  with  Parliament  at  the  point  of  the  sword."  Otis, 
of  Boston,  had  said,  "It  is  out  duty  to  submit,"  and  even  our  intrepid 
Governor  Hopkins  had  said,  "Whatever  may  be  determined — the  Gov- 
ernor and  Company  of  Rhode  Island  w-ill  ever  remain  most  loyal,  most 
dutiful  and  most  obedient  subjects."  "If  Parliament,  in  their  superior 
wisdom,  shall  pass  the  Act,  we  must  submit,"  wrote  Thomas  Fitch,  of 
Connecticut,  although  he  had  earnestly  ojiposcd  its  enactment.  His  act 
of  submission  cost  him  the  loss  of  the  gubernatorial  chair,  in  1766. 

The  year  1765  opened  in  a  calm;  it  closed  in  a  tornado.  The  peace 
at  the  opening  months  was  a  suspense,  ominous  of  the  tremendous  ()oIitical 
convulsion  that  attended  the  birth  of  .American  Indq:)endence.  The  Col- 
onies had  hitherto  acted  as  separate  units ;  they  needed  and  waited  an 
unifying  motive,  a  force-compelling  unity,  .solidarity,  resistance  to  op- 
pressive acts  in  government.  The  passage  of  the  St.\mp  Act,  April,  1765, 
will  forever  stand  in  history  as  the  event  that  created  the  great  Republic 
of  the  West.  .A  wonderful  arousement  came,  not  on  the  part  of  officials 
of  the  Colonial  government,  but  from  the  common  people  wlio  were  made 
to  build  and  overthrow  authority,  when  not  exercised  in  the  interests  of 


724  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

the  common  man.  It  stands  to  the  credit  and  honor  of  the  Colony  of 
Rhode  Island  that  the  Governor,  the  General  Assembly  and  the  people 
were  loyally  united  in  resistance  to  the  principles  expressed  by  the  Stamp 
Act,  and  it  is  to  the  perpetual  honor  of  Honorable  Samuel  ll'ard,  Gov- 
ernor of  the  Colony  of  Rhode  Island,  that  he  stood  alone  among  the 
Governors  of  "the  old  thirteen  Colonies,"  in  his  refusal  to  take  the  sol- 
emn oath  to  support  the  Stamp  Act. 

The  speech  of  Col.  Barre  in  Parhament  against  the  Act  was  an  im- 
passioned burst  of  eloquence  that  could  not  be  confined  within  four  walls. 
The  Colonies  heard  it  and  it  was  rehearsed  in  every  Colonial  Assembly 
from  Massachusetts  to  Georgia.  Boston  solicited  the  portraits  of  Conway 
and  Barre  for  Faneuil  Hall.  John  Adams  and  Sam  Adams  in  Massa- 
chusetts, George  Washington  and  Patrick  Henry  in  Virginia,  Roger 
Sherman  in  Connecticut,  Samuel  Ward  in  Rhode  Island  and  great  spir- 
ited men  in  other  Colonies  took  up  the  patriotic  words  "Independence," 
"Pitt  and  Liberty,"  "Liberty,  property,  no  stamps,"  "the  Stamp  Act  is 
against  Magna  Charta,"  "join  or  die,"  and  in  stirring  addresses  aroused 
the  people  to  be  ready  to  resist  the  operations  of  the  Stamp  Act,  to  be  put 
into  operation  in  November,  1765.  The  people  of  all  the  Colonies  were 
thoroughly  aroused  to  the  issue  and  the  great  body  of  the  Colonists  were 
rebellious  to  the  new  claim  of  the  Crown,  public  meetings  being  held  by 
the  Sons  and  Daughters  of  I  iberty  in  all  the  Colonies.  Two  millions  of 
people  were  aroused  by  patriotic  thought  to  decisive  and  far-reaching 
acts.  In  July,  1765,  the  Massachusetts  House  of  Representatives  pro- 
posed a  Congress  of  Delegates  of  all  the  Colonies  to  be  held  in  New  York 
in  October,  to  consider  the  condition  of  the  Colonies  and  to  take  action 
for  their  relief.  The  call  was  sent  to  all  the  Colonies.  Meanwhile  the 
great  awakening  proceeds. 

In  Providence  no  open  acts  of  violence  occurred.  A  special  town 
meeting  was  held  August  7,  1765,  to  consider  what  action  the  town  would 
take.  A  committee,  consisting  of  Stephen  Hopkins,  Nicholas  Cooke,  Sam- 
uel Nightingale,  Jr.,  John  Brown,  Silas  Downer  and  James  Angell,  was 
chosen  to  draft  instructions  to  their  delegates  in  the  General  Assembly. 
At  an  adjourned  meeting  held  August  13,  the  committee  reported  recom- 
mendations and  instructions,  which  were  unanimously  adopted,  in  sub- 
stance the  same  as  had  been  passed  by  the  House  of  Burgesses  in  Virginia, 
and  written  by  the  liberty-inspired  pen  of  Patrick  Henry.  At  the  session 
of  the  Rhode  Island  Assembly,  held  at  East  Greenwich,  in  September, 
1765,  the  Providence  Resolutions  were  adopted,  with  two  important 
amendments ;  one  denied  the  right  of  the  British  government  to  tax  the 
Colony,  and  the  other  guaranteed  protection  to  the  Colonial  officers,  in 
their  opposition  to  the  enforcement  of  the  Stamp  Act.  The  General  As- 
sembly endorsed  the  proposal  of  Massachusetts  for  a  Colonial  Congress 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCE 


/-^D 


in  New  York,  in  October,  and,  in  Grand  Committee,  the  two  Houses  chose 
Henry  Ward,  Secretary  of  the  Colony  and  Metcalf  Bowler  of  Newport, 
as  Commissioners  to  represent  the  Colony  in  the  New  York  Congress. 
The  Commissioners  were  instructed  to  stand  for  the  principles  set  forth 
in  the  six  Resolutions  of  the  Assembly.  An  extra  issue  of  the  Provi- 
dence Gazette  appeared,  after  a  period  of  suspension,  with  the  words 
"VOX  POPULI  VOX  DEI"  in  bold  type  above  the  title,  with  the  motto 
below,  "Where  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is,  there  is  Libkrty.  St.  Paul." 
In  the  same  paper,  Hon.  Augustus  Johnston,  the  Attorney  General  of  the 
Colony,  wlio  had  been  appointed  stamp  distributor  for  Rhode  Island,  an- 
nounced his  resignation,  refusing  '"to  execute  his  office  against  the  will 
of  Our  Sovereign  Lord,  the  People." 

At  Xewi>ort  violent  demonstrations  took  place.  Effigies  of  Augustus 
Johnston,  Martin  Howard,  Jr.,  an  eminent  lawyer,  and  Dr.  Thomas  Mof- 
fat, a  Scotch  physician,  all  of  whom  had  incurred  pojjular  odium  by 
advocating  the  measures  of  Parliament,  were  drawn  through  the  streets, 
hung  on  a  gallows  in  front  of  the  court  house  and,  in  the  evening,  were 
cut  down  and  burned  in  the  presence  of  a  multitude  of  people.  On  the 
next  day.  the  houses  of  these  men  were  plundered  by  a  mob  and  they  fled 
for  their  lives  on  board  the  "Cygnet,"  a  British  sloop-of-war  in  the  harbor. 
The  revenue  officers,  afraid  of  losing  their  lives  at  the  hands  of  the 
furious  mobs,  closed  the  customs  and  fled  for  safety  to  the  same  ship, 
refusing  to  return  to  their  duties  until  protection  was  guaranteed.  The 
arrest  of  Samuel  Crandall,  a  ring  leader  of  the  mob,  a  protecting  guard 
and  a  promise  to  regulate  the  customs  fees  according  to  the  orders  of  the 
General  Assembly  restored  the  officers  to  their  usual  duties.  A  plan  to 
capture  a  prize  sloop,  loaded  with  molasses,  then  under  the  protection  of 
the  gims  of  the  "Cygnet"  was  frustrated  by  the  wise  action  of  Gov.  Ward. 
Wiser  counsels  prevailed  in  a  Newport  town  meeting,  held  Sept.  3,  1765, 
in  which  the  Deputies  were  instructed  to  give  their  "utmost  attention  to 
those  important  objects — the  Court  of  Admiralty  and  the  Act  for  levy- 
ing stamp  duties,"  at  the  September  session  of  the  Assembly.  They  were 
reminded  that  "It  is  for  liberty,  that  liberty  for  which  our  fatliers  fought, 
that  liberty  which  is  dearer  to  a  generous  mind  than  life  itself,  that  we 
now  contend,  the  causes  vast  and  important."  Rhode  Island  had  thus, 
by  the  deliberate  acts  of  the  great  majority  of  her  people,  by  the  General 
Assembly  and  by  her  intrepid  and  patriotic  Governor,  set  the  seal  of 
Colonial  and  popular  disapproval  of  the  Stamp  Act  and  an  absolute  denial 
of  the  right  of  the  British  government  to  tax  the  Colonies.  In  this  posi- 
tion, the  Colony  found  herself  in  full  accord  with  her  sister  Colonies. 

The  second  General  Congress  of  all  the  Colonies,  based  on  the  prin- 
ciple of  that  held  at  Albany,  in  1748,  met  at  New  York,  on  Monday, 
October  7,  1765.  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  Pennsylvania, 


726  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

Maryland  and  South  Carolina  were  represented  by  delegates,  chosen  by 
the  legislatures  of  those  Colonies.  New  York,  Pennsylvania  and  Dela- 
ware were  present  by  delegates  authorized  by  other  bodies ;  New  Hamp- 
shire, not  present,  agreed  to  abide  by  the  decision,  even  with  a  hostile 
Crown  Governor;  a  delegate  from  Georgia  arrived  before  adjournment. 
Two  Colonies,  Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  were  absent,  as  their  Colonial 
Assemblies  had  not  met  to  choose  delegates. 

The  New  York  Congress  was  the  first  session  of  the  Colonies  by 
delegates,  in  which  the  foundation  principles  of  Colonial  governments 
were  discussed,  and  an  affirmative  declaration  made.  It  is  quite  safe  to 
affirm  that  this  body,  by  the  comparison  of  various  Colonial  views,  and  the 
elimination  of  the  narrower,  was  able  to  agree  on  and  to  declare  unani- 
mously the  principles  of  American  Independence,  and  Democracy  as 
affirmed  by  the  issues  of  the  Revolution,  twenty  years  later. 

Otis  of  Massachusetts  was  instructed  to  support  the  liberty  of  the 
Colonies  and  their  chartered  rights. 

Rhode  Island  declared  that  the  people  of  this  Colony  have  enjoyed 
the  right  of  being  governed  by  their  own  Assembly  in  the  articles  of 
taxes  and  internal  police — rights  constantly  recognized  by  the  King  and 
people  of  Britain. 

Johnson  of  Connecticut  pleaded  the  charter  rights  of  the  Colony 
from  the  Crown. 

Robert  R.  Livingston  of  New  York  would  not  place  the  hope  of  the 
American  Colonies  on  the  infirm  basis  of  chartered  rights. 

Christopher  Gadsden,  later  a  general  in  the  Revolution,  was  aroused 
to  a  high  pitch  of  passionate  eloquence  against  the  claim  of  charter  rights. 
"A  confirmation  of  our  essential  and  common  rights  as  Einglishmen  may 
be  pleaded  from  charters  safely  enough,  but  any  other  dependence  upon 
them'  may  be  fatal.  We  should  stand,"  said  Gadsden,  "upon  the  broad 
conmion  ground  of  those  natural  rights  that  we  all  feel  and  know  as  men, 
and  as  descendants  of  Englishmen.  I  wish  the  charters  may  not  ensnare 
us  at  last  by  drawing  different  Colonies  to  act  differently  in  this  great 
cause.  Whenever  that  is  the  case,  all  will  be  over  with  the  whole.  There 
ought  to  be  no  New  England  man,  no  New  Yorker,  known  on  the  contin- 
ent, but  all  of  us  Americans." 

It  was  this  high  note  of  natural  right,  instead  of  the  lower  of  charter 
privilege,  that  ruled  the  Congress,  and  thereafter  reference  to  royal  grants 
was  avoided.  Bancroft  calls  this  the  first  great  step  towards  Independ- 
ence. Livingston,  Gadsden,  and  the  Congress  of  1765,  declared  for 
American  self-existence  and  union,  by  claiming  rights  that  outran  charters 
and  would  exist  long  after  charters  had  had  their  day  and  ceased  to  be. 
In  the  debates  of  this  Congress,  continuing  for  two  weeks,  "the  liberty, 
privileges,  and  prerogative"  which  the  Colonies  "ought  to  enjoy"  were 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCE       7^1 

the  subjects  considered.  James  Otis  of  Boston  was  the  master  of  all 
subjects,  throwing  light  on  all.  Livingston  wanted  to  concede  the  right 
of  Great  Britain  to  regulate  Colonial  trade,  but  Rutledge  of  South  Caro- 
lina vehemently  opposed  the  concession  and  all  restrictions  were  declared 
grievances.  Gadsden  and  Lynch  of  South  Carolina  were  dissatisfied  with 
pleas  and  petitions  to  Parliament  but  yielded,  "for,"  said  he,  "union  is 
most  certainly  all  in  all."  The  final  declarations  of  the  Congress  of  New 
York  of  Rights  and  Grievances  were  substantially  these: 

Tlie  right  of  trial  by  jury  should  not  be  abridged. 

That  the  people  of  the  Colonies  are  not  and  cannot  be  represented  in 
the  Britisii  Parliament. 

That  taxes  never  have  been  and  cannot  be  constitutionally  imposed  on 
the  American  Colonies. 

That  taxes  can  only  be  imposed  by  Colonial  legislatures  for  their 
respective  Colonies. 

That  all  supplies  to  the  Crown  are  free  gifts. 

That  for  the  people  of  Great  Britain  to  make  claims  on  the  property 
of  the  Colonists  was  not  reasonable  nor  consistent  with  the  principles  or 
spirit  of  the  British  Constitution.  These  inherent  rights  and  liberties  are 
necessary  for  the  most  effectual  connection  of  America  with  the  British 
Empire. 

On  the  morning  of  October  25,  1765,  the  anniversary  of  the  acces- 
sion of  George  III  to  the  throne,  the  Colonial  Congress  of  1765  held  its 
last  session,  when  the  delegates  of  six  Colonies  with  two  exceptions,  and 
the  assent  of  five  other  Colonies,  set  their  hands  to  the  Declarations  and 
the  Colonies  became,  as  they  expressed  it,  "a  bundle  of  sticks,  which 
could  neither  be  bent  nor  broken." 

The  British  ministry  received  the  news  of  the  opposition  of  the  Col- 
onies to  the  Stamp  Act,  with  great  surprise.  The  Colonial  agents  had 
been  chosen  and  all  the  Colonial  Governors,  except  Samuel  Ward  of 
Rhode  Island,  had  agreed  to  sustain  the  Act.  The  ship,  bringing  stamps, 
arrived  in  New  York  harbor  while  the  Congress  was  in  session.  At 
once  all  the  vessels  in  the  harbor  lowered  their  colors,  and  the  night  fol- 
lowing notices  were  posted  on  the  doors  of  all  public  offices,  threatening 
the  first  man  who  should  distribute  or  use  stamped  paper.  "Assure  your- 
selves the  spirit  of  Brutus  and  Cassius  is  j'et  alive."  The  speech  of  Sam 
Adams  of  Massachusetts  reached  England  with  the  Declaration  of  Con- 
gress. The  Ministry  were  amazed,  and  in  doubt  what  course  to  pursue. 
Some  favored  resort  to  arms  to  compel  the  Colonies  to  submit,  but  the 
conservative  members  hesitated  to  enforce  the  Act  by  armed  force.  A 
circular  was  sent  to  all  the  Colonial  Governors,  counselling  "lenient  and 
persuasive  measures,"  and  the  Crown  and  ministers,  in  great  anxiety, 
awaited  the  news  from  the  Colonies  following  the  advent  of  the  stamp 


728  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

ships.  But  the  people  had  settled  the  question  and  the  New  York  Con- 
gress but  voiced  their  firm,  united  resolve.  On  the  first  day  of  November, 
1765,  not  a  stamp  was  to  be  seen  in  any  American  Colony.  The  stamp 
distributors  had  resigned,  some  by  force,  others  by  choice.  From 
New  Hampshire  to  Georgia,  the  day  was  ushered  in  by  the  tolling  of 
muffled  bells,  and  pennants  at  half  mast.  Children  shouted  on  the  streets, 
"Liberty,  property,  and  no  stamps."  In  Newport,  at  a  town  meeting 
presided  over  by  Governor  Ward,  a  night  patrol  was  organized  and  a  mili- 
tary guard  established.  The  customs'  officers  at  Newport  sent  to  Augustus 
Johnson  for  stamps.  He  replied  that  he  had  given  up  the  office  and  sent 
the  stamps  on  board  the  war-sloop.  Cygnet.  So  complete  was  the  closure 
of  all  stamp  supplies,  that  while  business  continued  in  usual  fashion,  all 
affairs  that  under  the  new  law  of  Nov.  i,  called  for  stamps,  were  illegal 
and  void.  Legally,  the  ordinary  processes  of  government  were  ended, 
all  legal  processes  were  invalid,  commercial  transactions  ceased,  ships 
could  not  sail,  courts  could  not  be  held,  marriages  were  forbid,  deeds 
could  not  pass,  writs  were  unservicable,  and  even  many  of  the  usages  of 
domestic  life  were  held  up  by  the  stamp  law.  The  British  Parliament 
had  strangled  the  civil  life  of  the  Colonies,  dc  jure,  but  not  de  facto,  for 
business  did  continue.  The  judicial  courts  held  their  sessions,  ships  sailed 
with  flags  at  full  mast  and  Rhode  Island  Colonial  life  went  on,  in  usual 
style.  November  28  was  made  a  day  of  joyous  thanksgiving  for  mani- 
fold blessings,  chief  of  which  was  a  united  people  against  an  unjust 
taxation. 

The  Stamp  Act  had  much  to  do  in  the  breaking  down  of  social, 
church  and  civil  barriers  that  had  separated  the  people  of  the  Colony.  In 
a  common  cause  of  defence,  the  bitter  Ward-Hopkins  war  came  to  a 
longed-for  end.  In  a  great  contest  for  liberty,  personal  ambitions  and 
party  differences  seemed  childish  trivialities,  for  homes,  property,  man- 
hood. Colonial  life  and  freedom  were  now  at  stake.  Clubs,  called  ".Sons 
of  Liberty"  sprang  into  being  and  active  service  from  the  Colonial  youth 
of  all  the  Colonies,  but  it  was  the  peculiar  honor  of  Rhode  Island  of  in- 
itiating an  order  of  young  women,  known  as  "Daughters  of  Liberty." 
Eighteen  young  ladies  met  at  Dr.  Ephraim  Bowen's,  by  invitation  and 
spent  the  day  from  sunrise  to  sunset  in  spinning.  They  resolved  to  pur- 
chase no  more  British-made  cloth  until  the  Stamp  Act  was  repealed,  and 
cut  out  tea  at  the  evening  entertainment.  "The  Daughters"  grew  in  num- 
bers and  patriotism  rapidly,  so  that  the  next  meeting  was  held  in  the  hall 
of  the  State  House,  where  the  District  Court  now  meets,  for  the  purpose 
of  spinning  and  weaving  a  handsome  piece  of  linen,  to  be  given  as  a 
premium  to  the  person  who  should  raise  the  largest  amount  of  fla.x  in 
the  County  of  Providence  during  the  year  1766.  "Liberty  meetings"  were 
held  in  Providence,  Newport  and  other  towns  and  "Liberty  Trees"  were 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCE       729 

planted  or  dedicated  and  "Liberty  Poles"  erected.  At  a  "Liberty  meet- 
ing" in  Providence  tliis  bold  declaration  was  made  tbat  the  people  would 
resist  the  Stamp  Act,  even  to  "the  destniction  of  the  union"  of  the  Col- 
onies with  Great  Britain.  In  Newport,  Capt.  William  Read,  a  deputy 
from  that  town  in  the  Assembly  gave  a  piece  of  land,  on  which  the  ]jeople 
planted  a  "Liberty  Tree,"  an  example  which  was  followed  in  other  towns 
in  the  Colony.  A  similar  high  tide  of  public  sentiment  flooded  all  the 
American  Colonies,  to  oppose  the  operations  of  the  odious  act. 

George  the  III.  ojjcned  Parliament  December,  1765,  "provoked"  and 
"humiliated."  He  claimed  that  "protection  of  the  Colonies  demanded 
obedience" — the  spirit  of  absolute  monarchy,  not  the  British  Constitution. 
Rockingham,  the  future  prime  was  dumb.  Grenville  urged  repression  or 
suppression.  The  great  statesman  Pitt,  inspired  by  tlie  Colonial  spirit 
and  acts,  declared,  "I  rejoice  that  America  has  resisted."  Burke,  in  his 
maiden  speech  in  the  Commons  urged  the  reception  of  the  petition  of  the 
New  York  Congress.  From  the  closing  days  of  1765  to  March  18,  1776, 
the  British  Parliament  debated  Crown  rights  fs.  Colonial  rights.  On  that 
day  George  IIL  rode  in  state  to  Westminster  and  gave  his  assent  to  "the 
fatal  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act,"  an  assent  that  he  ever  after  regarded  "as 
the  well-spring  of  all  his  sorrows."  With  the  large  majority  vote  of  repeal 
came  the  provocative  declaration  of  the  right  of  Parliament  to  tax  or 
control  the  Colonics  as  might  seem  best  for  British  interests. 

Great  joy,  alloyed  by  the  claim  of  supreme  right  filled  the  hearts 
of  the  Colonists,  at  the  news  of  the  repeal.  At  the  June  session  of  the 
General  Assembly,  at  Newport,  Samuel  Ward,  Governor,  a  committee 
was  chosen,  consisting  of  John  Jepson,  John  Andrews,  Metcalf  Bowler, 
George  Hazard  and  Henry  Ward  "to  prepare  an  humble  address  of 
thanks  to  His  Majesty,  for  giving  his  royal  assent  to  the  bill  for  repealing 
the  Stamp  Act."  It  was  also  voted,  that  on  His  Majesty's  birthday,  June 
4th,  a  royal  salute  should  be  fired  at  Fort  George,  "one  gun  fired  at  the 
morning  and  another  at  the  conclusion  of  that  joyful  day,"  for  "his  great 
goodness"  in  assenting  to  the  repeal  of  the  Act.  Thanks  also  of  the 
Assembly  were  voted  to  London  merchants  for  promoting  the  repeal. 
While  we  can  heartily  appreciate  the  joy  of  the  Colonists,  it  is  not  easy 
to  assent  to  the  apparent  and  undoubtedly  honest  worshipful  attitude 
toward  the  malignant  usurper  of  Colonial  rights,  George  HI,  of  mixed 
memories  of  gratitude  and  hate.  The  "Gazette"  describes  the  gay  gala  day 
of  June  4th  at  Providence.  Bells  were  rung,  cannon  boomed,  flags 
hoisted,  drums  beat,  trumpets  blared, — every  conceivable  mode  of  noisy 
rejoicing  was  engaged  in.  The  Presbyterian  meeting  house  was  filled 
with  joyful  people  to  hear  Rev.  Mr.  Rowland  tell  how  "the  Lord  hath 
done  great  things  for  us,  whereof  we  arc  glad."  Ps.  126,  3V.  The  As- 
sembly made  the  court  house  and  the  parade  the  centres  of  the  day's 


730  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

doings.  Here  a  royal  salute  of  21  guns  was  fired,  the  King's  health  drunk 
in  royal  punch,  "thirty-two  of  the  most  loyal,  patriotic  and  constitutional 
toasts  drank,"  midst  the  sounds  of  trumpets,  drums  and  huzzas,  the 
multitude  treated  by  the  gentlemen  of  the  town. — an  old-time  drunk, — 
108  sky  rockets  with  a  bee-hive  containing  106  serpents  were  "played 
off."  At  nine  o'clock  "an  elegant  boiled  collation  was  served,"  and  at 
eleven  the  joyous  birthday  ended  in  a  grand  ball  given  by  town  gentlemen 
in  honor  of  "The  Daughters  of  Liberty."  "The  whole  was  carried  on 
to  general  satisfaction  and  without  hurtful  accident."  The  celebration 
of  June  4th  was  continued  for  several  years  until  it  was  superseded  by 
July  4th,  for  which  it  had  proved  a  precursor  and  usher. 

In  May,  1766,  Sherwood,  the  agent  of  our  Colony  at  London  wrote 
to  Governor  Ward  relative  to  the  new  acts  of  trade  and  navigation  agreed 
upon  by  the  House  of  Commons  by  which  he  says,  "Every  grievance  of 
which  you  complained  is  now  absolutely  and  totally  removed."  The 
duties  upon  molasses,  syrups,  sugars,  coffee,  pimento,  cotton,  wool  and 
indigo  were  removed,  with  a  few  exceptions  as  to  coffee  and  pimento 
and  a  small  tariff  on  molasses ;  all  receipts  for  dutiable  goods  were  to  be 
used  for  protecting  the  Colonies.  Following  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act 
and  information  as  to  the  proposed  acts  of  the  new  ministry  and  Com- 
mons, Governor  Ward  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Ministerial  Secretary  of 
the  Crown,  expressing  the  "joy,  tranquillity  and  happiness"  that  pervaded 
the  Colonies,  calling  for  the  "most  affectionate,  dutiful  and  grateful  re- 
turns ;"  "they  are  so  firmly  attached  to  their  Sovereign,  and  to  the  British 
Constitution — so  truly  sensible  of  the  parental  goodness  of  the  Mother 
Country,  that  she  may  rely  upon  every  possible  convenience  and  advan- 
tage from  them." 

In  November,  i'767,  an  Act  of  Parliament  laying  duties  on  paper, 
glass,  paints,  teas,  etc.,  went  into  operation.  As  imports  were  subject  to 
the  demands  of  the  people  it  was  purely  a  matter  within  the  control  of 
the  Colonists,  as  the  Act  was  not  imperative  as  to  imports  and  the  Act 
was  rendered  nugatory  by  the  will  of  the  people  in  refusing  to  purchase 
the  goods.  This  Act  was  really  for  the  encouragement  of  domestic  indus- 
tries and  Providence  appointed  a  committee  for  promoting  the  interest 
of  the  Colony  and  for  avoidance  of  the  payment  of  duties.  As  a  result 
of  this  action  the  citizens  of  Providence  resolved  to  encourage  home  in- 
dustries, economy  and  manufactures,  and  in  February,  1768,  invited  to 
the  Colony  all  sorts  of  tradesmen,  manufacturers,  workers  of  all  names 
in  wood  and  iron,  stating  that  the  Rhode  Island  climate  was  salubrious 
and  conditions  of  living  favorable  to  all  classes  of  enterprise,  capital, 
labor  and  trade.  The  prices  current  in  Providence  in  1768  certainly  fav- 
ored the  consumer  at  the  expense  of  the  producer  when  wheat  was  45 
cts.  a  bushel,  rye,  27  cts.,  Indian  corn,  25  cts.,  beef,  veal  and  mutton,  3 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCE  731 

cts.  a  lb.,  pork,  4  cts..  butter,  8  cts.,  cheese,  5  cts.,  salt,  25  cts.  a  bushel, 
sugar  4j/^  cts.  a  lb.,  firewood,  $1.10  a  cord. 

Providence  dedicated  its  "Liberty  Tree,"  in  July,  1768.  This  famous 
elm  stood  in  front  of  the  Joseph  Olncy  tavern,  on  Olney  street.  Silas 
Downer,  Esq.,  gave  the  liberty  address  to  a  great  as.sembly  of  citizens, 
on  their  duties  for  "the  support  and  maintenance  of  that  liberty,  which 
our  renowned  forefathers  sought  out  and  found  under  trees  and  in  the 
wilderness."  On  the  25th  of  July,  1769,  "the  merchants,  traders,  farm- 
ers and  mechanics,  and  in  general,  all  the  'Sons  of  Liberty'  in  Providence 
and  the  neighboring  towns"  met  at  "the  Liberty  Tree"  to  consult  and  agree 
upon  effectual  measures  to  discourage  the  importation  and  consumption 
of  European  goods.  Another  meeting  was  held  on  October  17th  to  act 
in  unison  on  the  expected  arrival  of  an  English  vessel  with  British  goods, 
contrary  to  the  Citizens'  Agreement  of  1767.  A  week  later  a  town  meet- 
ing was  held  to  "discourage  luxury  and  extravagance  in  the  use  of 
Bristol  and  foreign  manufactures  and  superfluities"  and  to  encourage  by 
all  laudable  means  home  manufactures,  more  especially  articles  made  of 
wool  and  flax,  the  staple  products  at  that  time  of  Rhode  Island  farmers. 

Early  in  1770,  the  nimor  was  current  that  some  Boston  merchants 
had  broken  the  non-importation  agreement,  and  this  report  led  to  a  meet- 
ing of  Providence  merchants,  when  it  was  found  that  some  of  Providence 
were  also  guilty.  This  knowledge  led  to  a  special  town  meeting,  May  31, 
when  it  was  resolved  "that  no  general  importation  of  European  and 
India  goods,  from  Great  Britain,  take  place  in  this  town,  until  a  general 
importation  take  place  in  the  neighboring  Colonies."  Stephen  Hopkins, 
Darius  Sessions,  Ephraim  Bowen,  John  Jenckes,  Nicholas  Brown,  Nich- 
olas Cooke  and  Job  Sweeting  were  chosen  to  see  that  the  agreement  be 
complied  with.  A  committee  was  also  chosen  to  ferret  out  contraband 
imports,  consisting  of  Jabez  Bowen,  Jr.,  John  Brown,  John  Jenckes, 
Joseph  Bucklin  and  Benj.  Cushing,  Jr.  Reports  injurious  to  the  good 
name  of  the  town  continued  to  be  circulated  when  the  Boston  Committee 
of  Trade  made  report  that  the  town  of  Providence  had  faithfully  ad- 
hered to  the  non-importation  agreement.  By  general  consent  the  agree- 
ment was  rescinded  in  October,  1770.  A  remarkable  trial  took  place  in 
the  Superior  Court  of  Rhode  Island  in  the  Count}'-  of  Providence,  in- 
volving the  legality  of  the  non-importation  agreement.  The  Committee 
of  Inspection  of  the  City  of  New  York  discovered  that  one  David  Hills, 
of  Wrentham,  Massachusetts,  was  selling  goods  embraced  in  the  non- 
importation agreement,  and  they  induced  him  to  deposit  them  in  the  hands 
of  a  merchant,  whom  they  named,  to  be  delivered  back  to  him  on  the  re- 
peal of  the  Acts  of  Parliament.  \  mob  seized  and  burned  the  goods  in 
the  streets.  Hills  brought  a  suit  in  the  Rhode  Island  Court  against  some 
of  the  New  York  Committee,  whose  property  he  found  in  Rhode  Island, 


732  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

under  the  plea  that  his  property  was  taken  from  him  under  threats.  Able 
counsel  was  employed  on  both  sides,  and  the  business  of  the  plaintiff 
made  him  and  his  cause  unpopular.  The  judges  of  the  Court  were  sub- 
ject to  a  biennial  election.  Stephen  Hopkins  was  Chief  Justice,  with 
James  Helme,  Benoni  Hall,  Metcalf  Bowler  and  Stephen  Potter  as  asso- 
ciates. The  jury  came  from  Providence  County  and  did  not  receive  any 
charges  from  the  Court,  yet  judgment  was  given  for  the  plaintiff — a  mem- 
orable instance  of  the  sacred  regard  for  truth  and  justice,  in  opposition 
to  personal  and  popular  prejudice,  the  plaintiff  being  also  a  stranger, 
without  local  acquaintance  or  influence  and  whose  conduct  was  held  as 
injurious  to  the  cause  of  liberty.  At  the  succeeding  election,  Governor 
Hopkins  was  re-elected  Chief  Justice  and  the  other  members  of  the  Court 
with  one  exception.  And  this  was  the  court  that  modern  jurists  and  his- 
torians characterize  the  "Farmers'  Court,"  with  the  "Rule  of  Thumb." 

In  1769,  Joseph  Wanton  of  Newport,  was  elected  Governor,  holding 
the  office  until  his  deposition,  Nov.  7,  1775.  It  was  during  Governor 
Wanton's  temi  that  the  most  daring  and  revolutionary  act  against  the 
government  of  Great  Britain  took  place  in  Narragansett  Bay,  in  the  event 
of  the  capture  of  His  Majesty's  schooner  "Gaspee,"  Lieutenant  William 
Duddingston,  commander,  the  wounding  of  Duddingston  and  the  burning 
of  the  vessel  to  the  water's  edge,  on  the  night  of  June  9,  1772.  The  sig- 
nificance of  the  transaction  appears  in  the  fact  that  it  took  place  in  the 
smallest  and  weakest  of  the  Colonies,  that  it  was  carried  on  by  citizens, 
yeomen  of  the  town  of  Providence,  in  an  unpremeditated  action,  that  it 
involved  the  destruction  of  the  property  of  the  Mother  Country  and  en- 
dangered the  lives  of  British  subjects  and  that  it  did  cause  the  shedding 
of  blood  of  a  British  naval  officer, — ^the  first  blood  of  what  we  call  the 
American  Revolution.  This  act  was  no  less  than  constructive  treason 
and  the  persons  participating  were  embryo  traitors  to  the  British  Gov- 
ernment, but  patriots  in  defence  of  their  own.  The  story  reveals  the 
character  and  spirit  of  the  Rhode  Island  Colony,  and  the  event  outranks 
the  Boston  Tea  Party,  and  the  destruction  of  the  British  armed  sloop 
"Liberty,"  and  worthily  companions  the  heroic  deeds  of  Lexington  and 
Concord. 

While  the  Hill  case  was  occupying  the  judicial  mind  of  the  Colony, 
the  commerce  of  the  Bay  towns  was  harassed  by  His  Majesty's  schooner 
"Gaspee,"  with  eight  guns,  in  company  with  the  "Beaver,"  both  stationed  at 
Newport  to  enforce  the  revenue  acts.  Commander  Duddingston  had  an- 
noyed the  coasters  of  the  Bay,  detaining  and  examining  them  on  the 
slightest  occasion,  stopping  even  the  market  boats  for  the  Bay  towns  and 
in  some  cases  plundering  the  inhabitants  on  the  shores.  His  acts  were 
illegal  in  that  he  failed  to  show  his  commission  and  in  sending  captured 
vessels  and  property  to  Boston  for  trial,  contrary  to  Rhode  Island  laws. 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCE  7il 

Providence  merchants  made  complaint  to  the  Governor,  who,  on  con- 
suhing  Chief  Justice  Hopkins,  was  advised  "that  no  commander  of  any 
vessel  has  a  right  to  use  any  authority  in  the  body  of  the  Colony,"  with- 
out previously  applying  to  the  Governor,  showing  his  warrant  and  sworn 
to  a  due  exercise  of  his  office.  Gov.  Wanton,  acting  as  instructed,  sent 
to  Duddingston  to  produce  his  commission  and  instructions,  to  which 
Duddingston  sent  an  arrogant  reply.  Wanton  repeated  his  demand. 
Duddingston  sent  the  Governor's  letter  to  Admiral  Montague  at  Boston, 
who  replied  in  a  saucy  letter,  ridiculing  the  Governor,  defending  Dud- 
dingston and  threatening  "to  hang  as  pirates,"  the  parties  who  should 
attempt  to  rescue  a  prize.  Gov.  Wanton  replied  saying,  "I  do  not  receive 
instructions  for  the  administration  of  my  Government  from  the  King's 
Admiral  in  America,"  sending  both  letters  to  the  General  Assembly  for 
advice.  Wanton's  letter  was  endorsed  and  copies  of  both  were  sent  to 
England.  Governor  Wanton  also  wrote  to  Lord  Hillsborough  complain- 
ing of  the  Admiral's  insolence  and  the  conduct  of  Duddingston.  Dudding- 
ston also  wrote  to  Boston,  telling  the  Admiral  that  he  had  knowingly 
violated  the  law  in  sending  a  captured  sloop,  loaded  with  rum  to  Boston, 
giving  as  a  reason  that  it  could  not  be  safely  held  at  Newport.  He  stated 
that  the  mm  was  owned  by  Nathaniel  Greene,  a  deputy  in  the  Assembly 
from  Coventry.  In  this  he  made  a  serious  mistake,  as  the  owners  were 
Jacob  Greene  &  Co.,  of  Warwick,  who,  in  July,  brought  suit  and  recov- 
ered their  property  from  illegal  seizure  by  Duddingston.  The  "Gaspee" 
commander,  enraged  at  the  bold  assertivencss  of  the  Rhode  Island  Col- 
onists became  more  energetic  and  punctilious  in  the  enforcement  of  the 
British  revenue  laws,  and  his  conduct,  in  the  same  degree,  became  more 
exasperating  to  the  merchants  and  commerce  carriers  of  the  Colony.  On 
the  8th  of  June,  1772,  the  sloop  "Hannah,"  Captain  Benjamin  Lindsey, 
touched  at  Newport,  on  her  way  from  New  York  to  Providence,  and 
reported  her  cargo  to  the  Custom  House,  the  only  one  in  the  Colony.  On 
the  9th,  Capt.  Lindsey  set  sail  for  Providence,  the  "Gaspee"  following.  .As 
the  sloop  was  a  lighter  draught  vessel  than  the  "Gaspee"  and  as  her  captain 
was  more  familiar  with  the  soundings  of  the  Bay,  he  resolved  on  a  plan 
to  ground  the  "Gaspee"  on  one  of  the  projecting  points  and  thereby  end 
the  chase.  He  chose  a  sandy  point,  over  the  shallows  of  which  he  could 
safely  run  at  high  tide,  and,  if  the  "Gaspee"  should  follow,  he  well  knew 
that  her  race  would  suddenly  end.  Unwittingly,  Duddingston  followed 
closely  on  Lindsey's  course,  and,  to  his  great  mortification,  his  vessel 
grounded,  hard  and  fast  at  high  tide,  while  Lindsey  exultingly  crossed  the 
sand  bar,  in  perfect  safety,  and  landed  in  due  time  in  Providence  harbor. 
The  sandy  point,  on  which  the  "Gaspee"  grounded,  was  on  the  west 
shore  of  the  Bay,  below  the  mouth  of  the  Pawtuxet  River.  There  are 
two  points  on  the  Warwick  shore,  on  either  of  which  the  vessel  may  have 


734  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

been  caught.  One  is  Namquit  or  Gaspee  Point,  about  a  mile  and  one-half 
below  Pawtuxet.  This  is  a  short  point  and  to  cross  it  a  pilot  must  take 
pains  to  hug  the  west  shore  of  the  Bay.  About  two  miles  below  Namquit 
Point  is  Conimicut  Point,  which  is  a  long  point,  extending  half  way  across 
the  Bay,  towards  Nayatt  Point.  This  point  has  only  six  or  eight  feet  of 
water  at  high  tide  and  to  navigators  not  familiar  with  the  bay,  it  could 
be  used  by  a  skillful  seaman  to  lure  an  unsuspecting  pursuer  easily  to  his 
capture  by  the  sands.  Which  of  the  two  points  caught  the  Gaspee  is 
to-day  a  matter  of  conjecture,  with  the  record  of  historian  Arnold  in 
favor  of  Namquit.  Captain  Lindsey  arrived  at  Providence  about  sunset 
and  told  the  story  of  the  grounding  of  the  "Gaspee."  The  town  crier,  by 
beat  of  drum,  called  a  meeting  of  Providence  citizens  at  the  Sabin  Tavern 
in  the  evening.  Here  the  story  of  the  enemy's  situation  was  told  and 
plans  were  speedily  made  to  seize  and  destroy  the  schooner,  and  make 
prisoners  of  the  officers  and  crew.  Mr.  John  Brown,  merchant,  one  of 
the  four  Brown  Brothers,  provided  eight  long-boats  with  five  oars  each, 
and  these  were  filled  with  ship  captains,  merchants  and  other  citizens  of 
the  town, — men  of  character  and  influence,  under  the  command  of  Capt. 
Abraham  Whipple,  afterwards  a  captain  in  the  Continental  Navy.  The 
party  embarked  from  the  wharf,  at  the  foot  of  Planet  Street,  about  ten 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  with  muffled  oars,  undisguised,  they  rowed 
down  the  stream  on  their  patriotic  but  dangerous  undertaking,  for  had  the 
commander  of  the  "Gaspee"  anticipated  trouble,  the  expedition  might  have 
failed  at  the  expense  of  many  valuable  lives.  On  their  approach  to  the 
"Gaspee,"  the  flotilla  was  joined  by  a  boat  from  Bristol.  It  was  long  past 
midnight  as  they  approached  the  schooner,  when  a  sentinel  on  guard 
hailed,  "IP'Iw  comes  there f"  No  answer.  He  hailed  again  and  no  answer 
was  made.  Shortly,  Duddingston  mounted  the  starboard  gunwale,  hail- 
ing, "Who  comes  there?"  No  answer.  He  hailed  again  as  the  boats 
approached,  when  Capt.  Whipple  answered,  "I  am  the  sheriff  of  the 
County  of  Kent,  G — d  d — n  you ;  I  have  got  a  warrant  to  apprehend  you 
— so  surrender!"  Shots  were  fired  from  the  schooner  and  returned  by 
the  boats.  A  musket  ball,  fired  by  Joseph  Bucklin,  wounded  Duddingston 
in  the  groin  and  he  fell  to  the  deck,  blood  flowing  freely.  The  boatmen 
boarded  the  schooner  at  the  bows,  drove  the  crew  below  and  took  pos- 
session of  the  vessel.  The  men  surrendered  and  were  put  on  shore.  Dud- 
dingston's  wounds  were  attended  by  Dr.  John  Mawney,  a  student  of 
medicine,  and  was  taken  to  the  house  of  Joseph  Rhodes  at  Pawtuxet.  As 
soon  as  the  schooner  was  cleared  of  her  crew  she  was  set  on  fire,  the 
party  returning  to  their  homes  in  the  early  morning  of  June  lo.  The  last 
survivor  of  the  "Gaspee"  party  was  Ephraim  Brown,  who  died  in  1840,  at 
the  age  of  87  years.  An  event  like  the  burning  of  the  "Gaspee"  was  not 
an  every  day  affair.     It  occurred  under  singular  and  exasperating  cir- 


THE  STRUGGLE  EOR  INDEPENDENCE  735 

cumstances.  But  it  was  an  expression  of  the  Colonial  mind  and  spirit. — 
not  of  Rhode  Island  only  but  of  all  the  American  Colonics.  It  aroused 
a  sympathetic  response  in  the  Colonial  family  on  the  Atlantic  Coast.  It 
was  systematic.  Had  British  rulers  and  statesmen  interpreted  it  aright, 
it  would  have  proved  a  danger  signal  to  avert  greater  calamities.  Instead 
of  a  clear  and  full  investigation  of  causes  of  conflict  and  providing  the 
proper  remedies,  it  was  made  the  occasion  of  unjustified  punishment  and 
unjustifiable  treatment  of  Colonial  subjects,  which  widened  the  breach 
between  the  Colonies  and  the  home  government.  Arnold  says :  "The  af- 
fair of  the  "Gaspee"  is  still  more  deserving  of  commemoration,  as  it  was  the 
first  bold  blow  in  all  the  Colonies  for  freedom  and  the  earliest  (British?) 
blood  shed  in  the  War  of  Independence.  It  was  the  beginning  of  the  end. 
The  Revolution  had  commenced." 

Efforts  were  made  to  discover  and  punish  the  offenders.  Gov.  Wan- 
ton issued  a  proclamation  offering  one  hundred  pounds  sterling  to  any 
person  who  would  furnish  evidence  sufficient  for  conviction.  When  the 
news  of  the  "Gaspee"  affair  reached  England,  King  George  offered  a  re- 
ward of  £1,000  each  for  the  arrest  and  conviction  of  the  two  leaders 
and  £500  each  for  any  other  of  the  participants  with  a  full  jiardon  to 
any  one  concerned,  who  would  expose  the  others.  A  commission,  of 
which  Gov.  Wanton  was  chief,  was  named  to  inquire  and  report  the  facts 
in  the  case,  and  if  discovered  to  send  any  and  all  persons  to  England  for 
trial.  After  a  three  weeks'  session  of  the  Court,  a  final  report  was  made 
to  the  King,  that  the  Judges  had  failed  to  obtain  any  material  facts  or 
to  discover  the  persons  engaged  in  the  affair,  as  "the  whole  was  suddenly 
and  secretly."  The  report  commended  the  action  of  the  inhabitants  and 
the  local  government  and  declared  the  acts  of  Duddingston  to  be  im- 
prudent and  arbitrary. 

The  findings  of  the  Court  were  certainly  most  remarkable  for  the 
men  who  engaged  in  the  plan  to  destroy  the  "Gaspee"  were  well  known. 
Some  of  them  were  among  the  most  prominent  merchants  and  honorable 
citizens  of  the  Colony,  and  some  of  the  younger  men  had  openly  boasted 
of  their  share  in  the  bold  plot.  Add  to  the  general  knowledge  of  the 
men  who  took  part,  and  the  large  sum  offered  in  rewards,  about  $5,000, 
it  would  seem  to  have  been  an  easy  task  to  bring  the  offenders  to  trial,  but 
it  stands  as  a  memorable  and  honorable  act  of  patriotism  that  no  person 
could  be  found  who  knew  anything  about  the  affair. 

"Where  ignorance  was  bliss,  'twas  folly  to  be  wise." 

The  "Gaspee"  affair  interested  all  the  Colonies.  An  act  of  the  smallest 
Colony  was  a  lesson  and  an  inspiration  for  all.  Hutchinson  proposed  to 
annul  the  Royal  Charter  of  Rhode  Island.  A  letter  was  sent  to  Sam 
Adams  for  advice.  His  answer  counselled  union,  "since  an  attack  on 
the  liberties  of  one  Colony  was  an  attack  on  the  liberties  of  all."    Cover- 


736  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

nor  Wanton  received  orders  to  send  Gaspee  offenders  to  England  for 
trial,  when  apprehended.  Oiief  Justice  Hopkins  said,  "Then,  for  the 
purpose  of  transportation  for  trial,  I  will  neither  apprehend  any  person 
by  my  own  order,  nor  suffer  any  executive  officers  in  the  Colony  to  do  it." 
Here  was  patriotic  courage,  pure  and  simple.  It  was  in  this  year,  1773, 
that  Inter-Colonial  Committees  of  Correspondence,  suggested  by  Vir- 
ginia, were  formed  and  organized  as  the  first  step  toward  Colonial  imion. 
This  was  the  initial  step  towards  a  Colonial  Congress.  Rhode  Island 
chose  Metcalf  Bowler,  speaker  of  the  House,  Ex-Governor  Hopkins, 
Moses  Brown,  William  Bradford,  Henry  Marchant,  Henry  Ward  and 
John  Cole,  as  its  Committee.  About  this  time,  Franklin  obtained  in  Eng- 
land, a  letter  written  by  one  George  Roome,  an  English  agent  for  creditors 
in  England,  who  had  spent  fourteen  years  in  Rhode  Island,  in  which  he 
had  denounced  the  courts  and  government  of  this  Colony  and  the  rebel- 
lious spirit  of  all  the  Colonies,  and  urged  the  establishment  of  royal  gov- 
ernments throughout  America  as  the  only  mode  of  averting  impending 
evil.  This  letter  was  spread  abroad  in  the  Colony  and  its  author  was 
denounced  in  town  meetings  in  Providence,  Johnson  and  Coventry. 
Roome  was  brought  to  the  bar  of  the  House  of  Deputies  to  answer  for 
his  libellous  letter,  and  refusing  to  answer  questions,  he  was  committed 
to  jail  at  Kingston,  for  contempt. 

In  May,  1773,  the  Tea  Act  for  the  relief  of  the  East  India  Company 
went  into  effect  and  plans  went  into  operation  for  shipping  large  quan- 
tities of  teas  to  America.  The  threepence  a  pound  import  tax  was  opera- 
tive and  by  it,  it  was  made  certain  that  the  English  purpose  to  tax  the 
Colonies,  upon  principle  was  firmly  established.  In  October,  it  was 
learned  that  shipments  of  tea  had  been  forwarded  to  four  of  the  principal 
American  ports.  Philadelphia,  the  home  of  Fra-nklin,  was  the  first  to 
enter  its  protest,  adopting  eight  resolutions,  wherein  the  consignees  were 
asked  to  resign  and  the  recipients  and  users  were  declared  to  be  enemies 
of  the  country.  No  tea  was  sent  to  Rhode  Island.  The  first  ship  load 
of  the  "pernicious  weed"  arrived  in  Boston,  November  28,  1773.  The 
town  had  already  adopted  the  Philadelphia  resolutions  and  meetings  had 
been  held  to  arouse  the  people  to  prevent  the  entrance  and  use  of  tea.  So 
strong  were  the  protests  of  the  people  of  Boston  and  neighboring  towns 
against  the  unloading  of  the  vessels,  that  the  ship  owners  agreed  that  the 
tea  should  not  be  landed,  while  a  strong  guard  was  placed  around  the 
wharf  to  see  that  no  tea  was  brought  on  shore.  On  December  i6th,  "the 
Boston  Tea  Party"  took  place,  when  three  hundred  and  forty-two  chests 
of  tea  were  broken  up  and  the  tea  was  steeped  in  the  salt  brine  of  Boston 
Harbor.  Another  vessel  of  tea  was  wrecked  on  Cape  Cod  and  the  tea 
lovers  and  drinkers  of  the  Bay  enjoyed  other  non-taxable  drinks.  Rhode 
Island  loved  tea  but  abhored  the  tax  and  held  public  meetings  to  dis- 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCF  737 

courage  its  introduction  and  prevent  its  use.  Newport  resolved  against 
tea  Jan.  I2tli,  1744;  Providence  followed  Jan.  lytb,  Warren  followed, 
Westerly  joined  the  ranks,  February  2,  Little  Compton  3,  Middletown  9, 
then  South  Kingstown,  Jamestown,  Ilopkinton,  Bristol,  Richmond,  New 
Sheridan  on  March  2,  Cumberland  i8th,  Harrington  2)ist.  The  brevity 
of  the  Middletown  resolves  express  the  gravamen  of  all:  "(i)  Resolved, 
that  we  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  East  India  Company's  irksome 
tea,  nor  any  other  subject  to  the  like  duty;  (2)  Resolved,  that  we  will 
heartily  unite  with  our  American  brethren  in  supporting  the  inhabitants 
of  this  continent  in  all  their  just  rights  and  privileges;  and  we  do  disown 
any  right  in  the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain  to  tax  America  voted  and 
passed."  The  Westerly  town  meeting  adopted  resolutions  drawn  by 
Governor  Samuel  Ward,  the  ancestor  of  a  more  distinguished  grand- 
daughter, Julia  Ward  Howe,  whose  "Battle  Hymn  of  the  Republic"  will 
survive  all  other  human  monuments. 

The  news  of  "the  Boston  Tea  Party"  aroused  intense  feeling  in  Eng- 
land against  the  American  Colonies.  Franklin,  the  Crown  Post  Masiter 
of  the  Colonies,  was  treated  with  great  discourtesy  and  his  office  taken 
from  him,  after  he  had  organized  the  postal  system  on  a  paying  basis. 
Philadelphia's  loss  was  gain  to  Providence,  for  the  Colonies  had  already 
in  hand  the  organization  of  an  independent  postal  service  and  William 
Goddard  of  Providence  was  chosen  to  set  up  a  Colonial  postal  admini- 
stration, while  the  existing  English  system  was  declared  "unconstitutional 
and  a  usurpation  no  longer  to  be  borne."  Important  events  follow  in 
rapid  movement.  The  Port  of  Boston  was  closed  to  commerce  March 
29,  1774.  General  Thomas  Gage  was  made  commander-in-chief  of  the 
English  Army  in  America  and  at  the  same  time  Governor  of  Massachu- 
setts, in  place  of  Hutchinson.  April  2,  Sam  Adams,  John  Hancock  and 
Dr.  Joseph  Warren  were  ordered  to  trial  in  England,  in  the  same  month. 
On  April  19th,  Edmund  Burke  made  his  masterly  speech  in  defense  of 
the  American  Colonies.  Colonial  troops  armed  and  drilled.  In  May,  at 
Boston,  Metcalf  Bowler  of  Rhode  Island,  in  a  conference  of  Massachusetts 
towns  action  relative  to  the  Port  Bill  announced  that  all  the  Colonies 
had  made  favorable  replies  to  the  Rhode  Island  proposal,  and  that  a 
Colonial  Union  was  certain.  On  May  17,  Gen.  Gage  made  his  public 
entry  into  Boston  and  on  that  day  Providence,  in  town  meeting  assembled, 
formally  proposed  and,  by  vote,  recommended  a  Colonial  Continental 
Congress.  Such  a  Congress  had  been  proposed  by  public  speakers  and 
correspondence  committees,  but  had  not  been  formally  endorsed  by  any 
collective  and  responsible  body.  It  is  true  that  the  Sons  of  Liberty  of 
New  York  proposed  such  a  Congress  on  May  i6th  and  John  Hancock 
had  suggested  it  in  a  public  meeting  at  Boston,  on  the  5th  of  March  pre- 
R  1-47 


738  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

vious,  but  no  corporate  body  of  men,  acting  in  its  civil  capacity,  and 
recognizable  as  a  permanent  and  important  factor  in  Colonial  affairs,  had 
"Resolved  that  this  town  will  heartily  join  with  the  Province  of  the 
Massachusetts  Bay  and  the  other  Colonies,  in  such  measures  as  shall  be 
generally  agreed  on,  for  the  protecting  and  securing  their  invaluable 
natural  rights  and  privileges,"  and  instructing  their  Deputies  in  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  to  promote  a  "Congress,  as  soon  as  may  be,  of  the  Repre- 
sentatives of  the  General  Assemblies  of  the  several  Colonies  and  Provinces 
of  North  America."  According  to  the  instructions  given  the  Deputies,  the 
General  Assembly  of  Rhode  Island  Colony,  at  its  Newport  session,  June 
13-15,  1774,  resolved  in  favor  of  a  "firm  and  inviolable  union  of  all  the 
Colonies,  in  Councils  and  measures  absolutely  necessary  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  their  rights  and  liberties."  To  that  end,  the  Assembly  appointed 
Hon.  Stephen  Hopkins  and  Hon.  Samuel  Ward  as  delegates  to  an  annual 
convention  of  representatives  of  all  the  Colonies  to  be  held  "as  soon  as  may 
be"  *  *  *  "to  establish  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  Colonies,  upon 
a  just  and  solid  foundation."  While  all  the  Colonies  were  rapidly  moving 
towards  Colonial  Union,  it  was  the  fortunate  lot  of  Providence  as  a  town, 
and  of  Rhode  Island  as  a  Colony  to  be  in  the  forefront  of  opinion  and 
action  in  bringing  the  Continental  Congress  into  being.  The  early  prac- 
tice of  independence  and  the  inculcation  of  the  principles  of  civil  and  re- 
ligious liberty  from  its  founding  had  fitted  our  Colony  for  the  initiative  in 
matters  where  the  freedom  of  the  individual  was  in  jeopardy.  The  virility 
of  this  principle  as  a  workable  force  is  seen  in  the  unanimity  of  the  As- 
sembly in  choosing  as  delegates  to  the  proposed  Congress  the  two  ex- 
governors,  vifhose  struggles  in  hostile  camps  had  for  so  long  kept  the 
Colony  in  bitter  political  turmoil.  Leadership  in  the  dramatic  events  of 
the  revolutionary  period  are  easily  traceable  to  the  men  and  events  of  an 
earlier  century.  To  Massachusetts  was  granted  the  honor  of  fixing  the 
time  and  place  of  the  meeting  of  the  first  congress  of  the  thirteen  Colonies. 
Military  activity  was  seen  on  all  sides.  The  stores  at  Fort  George, 
Newport,  were  recruited.  The  "Providence  Artillery  Company"  incor- 
porated in  Gloucester  in  1744,  changed  its  name  to  the  "Cadet  Company," 
was  officered  on  a  regimental  basis  and  by  its  new  charter  was  assigned 
to  the  right  of  the  line.  The  Light  Infantry  of  Providence  was  char- 
tered, to  consist  of  one  hundred  men  and  the  station  assigned  it  was  "in 
front  of  the  left  wing  of  the  regiment."  June  sotb  was  set  apart  as  a 
day  of  fasting  and  prayer  in  view  of  threatening  trouble  and  the  dis- 
tresses of  Boston.  In  August,  Providence,  by  a  town  vote,  instructed  its 
Deputies  to  vote  a  money  allowance  for  Boston,  as  did  Newport,  James- 
town, Westerly,  Bristol,  Warren,  Barrington,  North  and  South  Kingstown, 
Gloucester,  North  Providence,  Coventry,  Smithfield,  Johnston,  Tiverton, 
East  Greenwich,  Cranston  and  Little  Compton.     Scituate  sent  120  sheep; 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCE  739 

Gloucester,  95;  Smithfield,  150;  Johnson,  57;  East  Greenwich,  25,  and  4 
oxen;  Tiverton,  72;  South  Kingstown,  135;  Providence,  136  and  £51; 
Newport,  £300;  North  Kingstown,  70;  North  i'rovidence,  £18;  Bristol, 
£48;  Warwick,  5  oxen;  Little  Compton,  £30,  sent  liberal  sums  of 
money  and  provisions  to  Boston.  Jonathan  Simpson  came  to  Providence 
to  establish  business  as  a  dealer  in  hardware.  His  Tory  views  were  not 
popular  and  one  Saturday  night,  the  doors  and  windows  of  his  house 
were  covered  with  tar  and  feathers.  He  returned  to  Boston.  A  Tory 
tinman  came  frqm  Boston  to  set  up  business.  He  went  back  the  next  day. 
Providence  closed  its  doors  to  all  Tories.  Stephen  Arnold  of  Warwick, 
a  Judge  of  Common  Pleas,  unjustly  charged  with  Toryism  was  hung  in 
effigy  at  East  Greenwich,  for  which  a  mob  of  Warwick  threatened  to 
destroy  the  \nllage  in  revenge.  Deputy  Governor  Sessions  ordered  the 
Cadets  and  Light  Infantry  to  protect  the  town  and  support  the  sheriff. 
Mr.  Arnold  made  a  public  statement  of  his  views  and  the  mob  dispersed. 
At  the  October  session  of  the  General  Assembly,  held  at  Providence 
several  military  companies  were  chartered, — the  Newport  Light  Infantry, 
the  Pawtuxet  Rangers,  the  Gloucester  Light  Infantrj',  the  Providence 
Grenadiers,  applied  for  by  Jonathan  Arnold  and  others,  and  the  Kentish 
Guards,  applied  for  by  James  A.  Varnum,  Christopher  and  Nathaniel 
Greene  and  Archibald  Crary,  all  of  W'hose  names  became  illustrious  in 
the  forum  or  on  the  fields  of  conflict.  Ward  and  Hopkins  told  the  As- 
sembly at  a  special  session  in  December,  1774,  of  the  first  session  of  the 
Continental  Congress,  which  had  adjourned  and  they  were  elected  as 
delegates  to  the  May  session,  1775.  The  Assembly  ordered  the  gvms  and 
ammunition  at  Fort  George,  Newport,  to  be  removed  to  Providence,  in- 
cluding more  than  forty  cannon  and  a  large  quantity  of  powder  and  shot. 
Captain  Wallace,  commander  of  the  British  frigate  Rose,  at  Newport, 
demanded  an  explanation  of  this  act,  and  was  told  by  Governor  Wanton 
that  it  was  to  prevent  Wallace  from  seizing  them.  The  Colony  fire-arms 
at  Newport  were  ordered  distributed  to  the  five  Counties  according  to 
their  tax  rates.  Four  new  companies  were  chartered, — the  Scituate 
Hunters,  Providence  Artillery,  Fusileers,  North  Providence  Rangers,  and 
four  brass  four-pounders  were  bought  and  loaned  to  the  Providence  Ar- 
tillery. The  office  of  major-general  was  created,  to  be  elected  annually, 
and  Simeon  Potter  of  Bristol  was  chosen.  The  militia  law  was  revised, 
providing  "in  what  manner  the  forces  within  this  Colony  shall  march  to 
the  assistance  of  our  sister  Colonies,  when  invaded  or  attacked."  Com- 
mittees of  inspection  were  chosen  in  Newport,  Providence  and  other 
towns,  holding  monthly  meetings  and  advising  or  directing  in  matters  of 
local  defence.  Fire-arms  began  to  be  made  in  the  Colony  and  the  local 
companies  of  militia  were  supplied  with  home-made  muskets,  while  sixty 
heavy  cannon  were  forged,  besides  field  pieces  at  iron  works  in  Coventry, 


740  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

Warwick  and  other  iron  works,  superseding  the  usual  forging  of  cables 
and  anchors.  The  military  companies  were  rapidly  filled  and  supplied 
with  guns  and  ammunition,  already  collected  at  Newport  and  Providence. 
March  the  first,  1/75,  was  the  day  set  by  the  Continental  Congress  to 
st£>p  using  tea  by  the  Colonies.  The  Act  was  self-operative.  Tea  was 
banished  from  house  and  market.  On  March  and,  three  hundred  pounds 
of  tea  were  burned  in  the  presence  of  a  multitude  in  Market  Square,  and 
the  word  "TEA"  on  shop  signs  disappeared  by  brush  and  lamp  black. 
On  April  3rd,  a  general  muster  of  the  militia  was  held. 

Two  thousand  men,  besides  a  troop  of  cavalry,  enrolled  in  Provi- 
dence County  and  about  fifteen  hundred  in  Kent  County,  exclusive  of 
the  chartered  companies.  On  April  4th,  the  independent  companies  were 
reviewed.  On  the  19th  Gage  sent  a  body  of  men,  by  night,  to  capture 
some  military  stores  of  the  Colonists  at  Concord.  A  fight  with  minute- 
men  took  place  on  Lexington  Common  and  at  Concord  the  British  soldiers 
were  met  at  Concord  Bridge  by  the  militia  of  Middlesex  farmers,  who  had 
been  aroused  by  a  Lexington  courier.  The  fire  of  the  minute-men  led  to 
a  rapid  retreat  of  the  British  through  Lexington  to  Charlestown.  The 
British  loss  was  273  men;  the  American,  173.  The  Concord  fight  was 
the  first  engagement  between  British  regulars  and  Colonial  minute-men 
and  was  a  fine  illustration  of  the  spirit  and  courage  of  the  yeoman  sol- 
diers of  New  England.  The  shot  fired  at  Concord  Bridge  awoke  tlie 
Colonies  and  aroused  them  to  prepare  to  strike  for  freedom.  News  of 
the  battle  of  Lexington  reached  Providence  before  morning  and  swift 
messengers  rode  through  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut  towns,  calling  the 
people  to  arms  and  on  the  20th  of  April  a  thousand  Rhode  Island  soldiers 
were  marching  for  Lexington.  The  General  Assembly  met  in.  special 
session  at  Providence  on  April  22nd  to  act  "upon  measures  for  the  com- 
mon defence  of  the  four  New  England  Colonies."  Ammunition  was 
ordered  distributed  to  the  several  towns.  The  Providence  companies  of 
the  train  of  artillery  and  the  Fusileers  were  united  under  the  name  of  the 
United  Company  of  the  Train  of  Artillery.  May  nth  was  set  apart  as 
a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer.  Nathaniel  Greene  and  William  Bradford 
were  sent  to  Connecticut  to  advise  on  united  action.  "All  this  very  dan- 
gerous crisis  of  American  afifairs,  at  a  time  when  we  are  surrounded  with 
fleets  and  armies,  which  threaten  our  destruction."  The  Assembly  voted 
to  raise  an  army  of  observation  of  fifteen  hundred  men,  "properly  armed 
and  disciplined"  to  act  in  or  without  the  Colony,  "for  the  safety  and 
preservation  of  any  of  the  Colonies."  To  this  act  Governor  Joseph  Wan- 
ton, Deputy  Governor  Darius  Sessions-  and  Assistants  Thomas  Wickes 
and  Thomas  Potter  entered  a  written  protest,  on  the  grounds  "of  the  most 
fatal  consequences  to  our  charter  privileges,  involve  the  country  in  all 
the  horrors  of  a  civil  war,     *     *     *     and  in  open  violation  of  the  oath 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCE  74i 

of  allegiance  we  have  taken."  Narragansett  Bay  was  still  the  scene  of 
raids  on  our  commerce.  Two  vessels  loaded  with  flour  belonging  to  John 
Brown  were  seized  and  sent  to  Boston.  Mr.  Brown  was  on  board  of 
one  of  the  prizes  and  was  sent  as  a  prisoner  to  Boston.  Through  the  per- 
sonal intercession  of  his  brother,  Moses,  with  Gen.  Gage,  John  was  lib- 
erated. The  Browns  were  all  ardent  patriots.  In  1775,  John  Brown, 
finding  the  army  destitute  of  ammunition,  particularly  of  powder,  directed 
the  captains  of  his  vessels  to  load  their  craft  with  powder,  on  their  return 
voyages,  and  when  the  army  at  Boston  had  not  four  rounds  to  a  man,  he 
sent  a  ton  and  a  half  to  the  soldiers  at  Boston. 

At  the  annual  election  in  April,  Wanton  was  re-elected  Governor  and 
Sessions  Deputy  Governor.  The  latter  declined  to  serve  and  Nicholas 
Cooke  of  Providence  was  chosen  in  Grand  Committee  to  fill  that  office, 
at  the  May  session  at  Providence.  Gov.  Wanton  could  not  attend  on 
account  of  "indisposition,"  and  sent  a  message,  in  which  he  stated  his 
attitude  towards  the  Home  Government  as  a  pacifist  and  rehearsed  the 
probable  dangers  of  revolutionary  action,  urging  the  repeal  of  the  legis- 
lation for  raising  an  army.  An  issue  is  now  on  between  the  Governor- 
elect  and  the  General  Assembly.  Commissions  were  to  be  issued  to  the 
officers  of  the  Army  of  Observation.  Metcalf  Bowler,  speaker  of  the 
House  of  Deputies,  was  requested  to  ask  the  Governor,  "whether  your 
Honor  will  sign,  as  Commander-in-Chief  of  this  Colony,  such  commis- 
sions?" Gov.  Wanton  made  a  prompt  reply,  "I  cannot."  P>old.  courag- 
eous action  is  called  for  and  follows.  The  Governor  had  protested 
against  an  army  for  the  protection  of  Colonial  interests,  had  neglected  to 
issue  a  proclamation  for  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer  and  now  had  posi- 
tively refused  to  sign  the  commissions  of  officers,  "by  all  which,  he  hath 
manifested  his  intentions  to  defeat  the  good  people  of  these  Colonies,  in 
their  present  glorious  struggle  to  transmit  inviolate  to  posterity,  those 
sacred  rights  they  have  received  from  their  ancestors."  By  legislative 
act,  Joseph  Wanton  was  suspended  from  the  office  of  Governor  and 
Henry  Ward,  Secretary  of  State,  was  authorized  to  sign  officers'  com- 
missions, and  Deputy  Governor  Cooke  was  authorized  to  call  the  Assem- 
bly, in  special  session.  Deputy  Governor  Cooke  was  acting  Governor  of 
the  Colony  until  November  7th,  when  Governor  Joseph  Wanton  was  by 
vote  of  the  Assembly  formally  deposed,  "as  inimical  to  the  rights  and 
liberties  of  America."  Nicholas  Cooke  was  elected  Governor  and  William 
Bradford  of  Bristol  was  chosen  Deputy  Governor.  The  sun  of  the 
Wanton  family  which  had  shone  with  great  brilliancy  during  years  of 
Colonial  prosperity  sank  in  Toryism  and  the  lurid  clouds  of  civil  war, 
never  to  rise  again.  Deputy  Governor  Sessions  followed  in  the  trail  of 
"the  lost  cause,"  as  did  Assistant  Wickes.  Potter  recanted  and  was  restored 


742  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

to  social  and  political  favor.  Toryism  was  a  dangerous  path  in  Colonial 
times.     In  all  times  it  often  parallels  the  way  of  treason  and  rebellion. 

A  Committee  of  Safety  was  chosen  to  furnish  and  pay  the  troops 
and  with  the  two  highest  military  officers  to  direct  the  Army  of  Observa- 
tion, when  out  of  Rhode  Island.  This  committee  consisted  of  William 
Riclimond  for  Newport  County,  John  Smith  and  Daniel  Tillinghast  for 
Providence,  John  Northrup  for  Washington,  Jacob  Greene  for  Kent  and 
William  Bradford  for  Bristol.  The  army  was  made  up  of  three  regi- 
ments,—one  raised  in  Newport  and  Bristol  Counties  under  Colonel  Thom- 
as Church,  one  in  Providence  under  Colonel  Daniel  Hitchcock  and  one 
in  Kent  and  Washington  under  Colonel  James  M.  Varnum.  Each  regi- 
ment was  composed  of  eight  companies  with  a  train  of  artillery ;  the 
brigade  was  under  the  command  of  Brigadier-General  Nathanael  Greene, 
then  thirty-three  years  old.  About  one  thousand  men  of  the  Rhode 
Island  army,  with  the  United  Train  of  Artillery  having  four  field  pieces 
and  a  siege  battery  of  twelve,  eighteen  and  twenty-four  pounders  had  be- 
fore the  first  of  June  joined  the  American  army  of  sixteen  thousand  men, 
in  camp  at  Jamaica  Plains. 

The  intrepid  Captain  Abraham  Whipple,  the  leader  of  the  "Gaspee" 
party,  again  comes  to  the  front  in  the  capture  of  the  English  frigate  "Rose," 
Captain  Wallace,  who  was  disturbing  our  Bay  commerce.  It  seems 
that  Wallace  had  seized  a  Bay  packet  which  he  was  using  as  a  tender  to 
the  "Rose."  Governor  Cooke  demanded  the  restoration  of  the  packet, 
which  Wallace  contemptuously  refused  to  return  to  her  owners.  While 
the  correspondence  was  going  on,  an  armed  sloop  engaged  the  packet  and, 
after  sharp  firing  on  both  sides,  the  packet  was  chased  on  to  Conanicut 
shore  and  captured  on  June  15th.  The  captor  was  Captain  Abraham 
Whipple  of  Providence,  who  commanded  the  war  sloop  and  to  him  is 
due  the  honor  of  firing  the  first  shot  upon  the  ocean,  at  any  part  of  the 
British  Navy,  in  the  American  Revolution,  as  this  was  the  first  naval 
engagement  between  two  armed  vessels.  Wallace  had  learned  who  it  was 
that  led  the  company  that  seized  the  Gaspee  and  he  wrote  to  Whipple  as 
follows:  "You,  Abraham  Whipple,  on  the  loth  of  June,  1772,  burned  his 
Majesty's  vessel,  the  "Gaspee,"  and  I  will  hang  you  at  the  yard-arm.  James 
Wallace."  Whipple  replied  with  greater  brevity  and  more  wit  and  irony; 
"To  Sir  James  Wallace,  Sir:  Always  catch  a  man  before  you  hang  him. 
Abraham  Whipple."  Two  armed  sloops  were  equipped  for  the  defence 
of  Narragansett  Bay,  the  largest  to  carry  ten  four-pounders,  and  fourteen 
swivel  guns,  with  eighty  men,  the  smaller  thirty  men.  Their  names  were 
"Washington"  and  "Katy."  They  were  commanded  by  Commodore  Abra- 
ham Whipple,  who  hereby  instituted  the  American  Navy,  in  June,  1775.  On 
the  13th  of  October,  1775,  the  Continental  Congress  chose  a  committee 
consisting  of  Silas  Deane  of  Connecticut,  John  Langdon  of  New  Hamp- 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPEXDEX'CE  743 

shire  and  Christopher  Gadsden  of  South  Carohna  to  direct  the  naval 
affairs  of  the  Colonies  and.  in  1776.  Esek  Hojikins,  of  Rhode  Island, 
brother  of  Stephen,  was  commissioned  commodore  and  made  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  Continental  Navy.  Two  days  after  the  event  at  Conan- 
icut,  while  the  "Rose"  was  following  vessels  for  prizes,  up  the  Bay,  five 
vessels  which  they  had  taken  and  left  under  guard  in  Newport  harbor 
were  boarded  and  carried  off  by  seamen  of  Newport.  On  the  same  day, 
June  17th,  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  was  fought,  the  effect  of  which  was 
to  make  clear  to  the  Colonies  the  gigantic  task  to  which  they  were  pledged 
in  solemn  compact.  The  war  had  begun  in  dead  earnest.  Blood  had 
been  shed.  More  would  flow  as  the  price  of  freedom.  Every  man  in 
Rhode  Island  capable  of  bearing  arms  was  called  to  the  service.  One- 
fourth  of  the  militia  were  enlisted  as  minute-men.  The  Rhode  Island 
forces  were  incorporated  with  the  .American  army  at  Cambridge,  of  which 
George  Washington  took  command  July  2nd.  July  20th  was  a  Conti- 
nental fast  day  observed  with  due  solemnity  throughout  the  Colonies. 
Wallace  threatened  to  bombard  Newport,  Providence  fortified  Field  and 
Sassafras  Points,  erected  a  battery  of  si.x  eighteen-pounders  at  Fox 
Point  and  lighted  the  beacon  on  Prospect  Hill,  the  flame  of  which  was 
visible  from  Boston  to  New  London.  All  live  stock  was  brought  off  of 
Block  Island  and  the  islands  in  the  Bay.  Three  shillings  a  pound  was 
paid  for  saltpetre.  Eight  field  pieces  were  ordered  cast.  Two  "row 
galleys"  of  thirty  oars  and  si.xty  men  each,  with  one  eighteen-pounder, 
besides  swivel  gims,  were  ordered,  named  Washington  and  Spit-fire.  The 
Rhode  Island  delegates  to  Congress  were  instructed  "to  use  their  whole 
influence  for  building,  at  the  Continental  expense,  a  fleet  of  sufficient 
force  for  the  protection  of  these  Colonics,  and  for  employing  them  in  such 
manner  and  places  as  will  most  eflfectually  annoy  our  enemies  and  con- 
tribute to  the  common  defence  of  these  Colonies."  This  was  the  voice 
of  our  General  Assembly,  .August  21-26,  1775,  before  Washington  had 
fitted  out  vessels,  or  called  the  attention  of  Congress  to  the  need  of  a 
navy  to  protect  our  coast.  Congress  chose  a  committee  in  October,  1775, 
of  which  Stephen  Hopkins,  of  Rhode  Island,  and  John  Adams,  of  Massa- 
chusetts, were  members.  Rhode  Island  was  the  first  to  suggest,  the  first 
to  act  and  the  first  to  carry  out  the  idea  of  an  American  Navy.  A  per- 
manent garrison  of  seven  men  to  each  gun  was  stationed  at  Fox  Point, 
with  Esek  Hopkins  as  commander.  The  first  Rhode  Island  officer,  who 
fell  in  the  war.  Adjutant  Augustus  Mumford,  was  killed  in  the  siege 
of  Boston,  by  a  cannon  shot  from  a  British  gun,  August  29,  1775.  In 
October,  Congress  asked  Governor  Cooke  to  send  our  war  vessels  to  in- 
tercept two  ships  from  England  on  their  way  to  Canada  with  military 
stores.  Home  needs  were  greater,  for  Wallace  threatened  Newport  with 
destruction,  unless  live  stock  and  other  army  supplies  were  furnished. 


744  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

Six  hundred  men,  under  Esek  Hopkins  went  to  rescue  Newport,  saving 
property,  people  and  town.  On  Saturday  evening,  October  7th,  Wallace 
with  fifteen  sail,  anchored  in  line  in  Bristol  harbor,  and,  after  a  brief 
parley,  opened  a  heavy  cannonade  on  the  town.  The  night  was  rainy  and 
an  epidemic  was  prevailing,  while  a  hundred  and  twenty  cannon  shots 
were  fired  on  a  quiet  and  defenceless  people.  The  next  day.  he  sailed 
away  to  Newport  with  forty  innocent  sheep  as  his  booty  for  shooting  up 
a  peaceful  New  England  town  of  three  thousand  men  and  women.  Chiv- 
alrous Wallace!  During  the  months  of  December,  1775,  and  Januarj', 
1776,  Wallace  was  constant  in  his  forays  on  the  towns  bordering  on  the 
Bay, — plundering  the  islands  and  threatening  the  lives  of  the  people. 
Troops  of  minute-men  were  stationed  on  guard  of  Bay  towns  and  Wash- 
ington sent  Gen.  Lee,  who  took  command  at  Newport,  and  summoning 
the  Tories,  administered  a  tremendous  oath,  which  was  taken  by  all  but 
Col.  Wanton  and  two  officers  of  customs.  The  Lee  iron-clad  oath  is  an 
historic  relic  which  will  stand  the  test  of  time  and  ensure  loyalty  outside 
of  jail  limits. 

The  Continental  Navy,■^vith  two  ships,  the  Alfred  of  30  guns  and 
the  Columbus  of  36;  two  brigs,  the  Andrea  Doria  and  Cabot,  each  14 
guns  and  four  sloops,  the  Providence,  Fly,  Hornet  and  Wasp,  were  placed 
in  the  command  of  Commodore  Esek  Hopkins,  in  February,  1776.  Abra- 
ham Whipple  was  chosen  Captain  of  the  Columbus  and  John  B.  Hopkins 
of  the  Cabot,  and  John  Paul  Jones  as  first  lieutenant  of  the  Alfred, — all 
except  Jones,  relatives  of  Stephen  Hopkins,  of  the  Naval  Committee.  In 
March,  the  fleet  under  Commodore  Esek  Hopkins  descended  on  New 
Providence,  in  the  Bahamas,  captured  two  forts,  seized  a  large  amount 
of  military  stores  and  more  than  100  cannon,  bringing  home  with  the 
booty  the  Governor  of  the  Island.  On  the  return,  Hopkins'  fleet  en- 
countered the  British  ship  Glasgow,  20  guns,  and  150  men,  off  Block 
Island.  After  severe  fighting,  the  Glasgow  made  a  flight  to  safety  in 
Newport  harbor,  while  Hopkins  with  100  guns  and  700  men  failed  of 
victory  for  want  of  good  management,  though  his  command  showed  good 
spirit.  In  August  Commodore  Hopkins  was  unable  to  sail  north  or  south 
for  want  of  men,  and  in  December  Hopkins  was  "bottled  up"  by  a  large 
British  fleet  in  Narragansett  Bay.  He  wrote:  "We  are  now  blocked  up 
by  the  enemy's  fleet;  the  officers  and  men  are  uneasy,  however,  I  shall 
not  desert  the  cause,  but  I  wish  with  all  my  heart  the  Hon.  Marine  Board 
could  and  would  get  a  man  in  my  room  that  would  do  the  country  more 
good  than  it  is  in  my  power  to  do." 

In  August,  1776,  Congress  censured  Hopkins;  in  1777,  he  was  sus- 
pended and  in  1778  was  dismissed  from  service.  Gen.  Henry  Knox 
called  Hopkins  "an  antiquated  figure."  Richman  writes  of  the  only  "Com- 
mander-in-Chief" of  the  American  Navy:   "He  was  a  well-meaning  man, 


Commander-in-Chief  of   American   Xavy,   1776 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCE       745 

unresourceful  and  slack ;  one  of  those  upon  whom  misfortune  seems  to 
descend  by  sheer  force  of  natural  attraction." 

Governor  Samuel  Ward,  a  delegate  from  Rhode  Island  at  Philadel- 
phia, died  on  March  25th  of  small  pox.  He  was  a  wise  counsellor,  an  un- 
failing patriot,  and  his  death  was  a  great  loss  to  one  and  all  of  the  Col- 
onies. In  April,  Generals  Nathanael  Greene,  John  Sullivan,  and  Joseph 
Spencer  with  16  regiments  of  troops  reached  Providence,  called  by  Gov- 
ernor Cooke  to  meet  a  threatened  invasion  by  the  British  army  and  navy  ■ 
reached  Providence,  in  the  first  week  of  April,  followed  by  Washington 
himself,  who  was  given  a  reception  and  a  grand  entertainment  at  Prov- 
idence, April  6th,  and  departed  for  New  York  the  next  day.  As  Wash- 
ington was  on  his  way  to  New  York,  Commodore  Esek  Hopkins  arrived 
at  New  London,  after  a  series  of  brilliant  naval  engagements,  capturing 
two  war  vessels  on  successive  days,  driving  the  frigate  Glasgow  into  New- 
port harbor.  The  Searboro  of  20  gims  and  another  vessel  of  16  guns  with 
two  prizes  were  captured  by  the  two  row  galleys  from  Providence,  and 
with  new  batteries  at  Newport  and  Canonicut  the  Bay  was  freed  of 
British  cruisers. 

While  all  the  American  Colonies  suffered  general  grievances  from 
Great  Britain,  which  created  a  bond  of  Colonial  union,  Massachusetts 
and  Rhode  Island  were  singled  out  as  special  objects  of  magisterial  re- 
proof and  castigation.  For  four  years  and  more  the  commerce  of  this 
Colony  had  suffered  from  unjust  espionage  and  provoking  interference, 
evidence  of  which  appears  in  the  event  of  the  Gaspee  in  1772,  and  this 
was  only  one  of  a  series  of  troublesome  violations  of  Colonial  rights  that 
preceded  and  followed.  While  the  taxes  on  tea  and  other  commodities 
affected  the  pockets  of  the  people,  their  patience  and  patriotism  were 
more  severely  taxed  by  injustice  and  military  oppression.  Narragansett 
Bay  towns,  with  Newport  and  Providence  as  chief,  had  suffered  until 
longer  endurance  ceased  to  be  a  virtue  and  an  aroused  people,  under  able 
and  public  spirited  leaders  of  the  ancient  stock,  had  reached  the  crisis, 
when  decision  and  action  must  set  the  seal  on  further  hostile  exploitation 
of  the  Colony  of  Rhode  Island.  On  May  the  first,  1776,  the  General 
Assembly  met  at  Providence  on  weighty  business.  At  previous  sessions, 
it  had  legislated  on  the  raising  of  troops  for  defence,  and  on  measures 
for  Continental  union.  At  this  session,  the  yeomen  of  the  towns  had  sent 
their  best  men  to  consider  and  act  on  the  vital  questions  of  English  and 
Colonial  relations.  Nicholas  Cooke  was  Governor;  William  Bradford,  of 
Bristol,  Deputy  Governor;  Major  General  Simon  Potter,  John  Collins, 
later  Governor,  Peter  Phillips,  assistants;  Col.  Jonathan  Arnold,  John 
Brown,  Metcalf  Bowler,  William  Greene,  later  Governor,  Major  General 
Joshua  Babcock,  Shearjashub  Bourne,  Col.  John  Cooke,  Judge  Daniel 
Mowry,    Major   Thomas    Olney,    Capt.    Thomas    Allin,    were    deputies. 


746  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

These  were  the  leaders  in  patriotic  legislation,  in  that  historic  Assembly. 
Henry  Ward  was  Colonial  Secretary,  and  Metcalf  Bowler,  speaker  of  the 
House.  Three  days  were  devoted  to  organization,  the  choice  of  military 
officers,  and  other  matters  relative  to  placing  the  Colony  on  a  war  footing. 
All  legislation  was  leading  up  to  the  great  decision  which  was  to  be  en- 
acted. There  was  consultation  and  deliberation  which  preceded  action. 
Hopkins  and  Ellery,  delegates  to  Congress,  are  advisory  to  the  Declara- 
tion of  the  Colony.  It  has  been  decided  in  E.xecutive  Council  to  present 
to  the  two  Houses,  "An  Act  repealing  an  Act  entitled  'An  Act  for  the  more 
efifectually  securing  to  His  Majesty,  the  allegiance  of  his  subjects,  in  this 
his  Colony  and  Dominion  of  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantations.' " 
In  a  compact  message  of  about  three  hundred  words,  we  find  stated  the 
principle  of  reciprocity  in  "protection  and  allegiance,"  and  the  charge 
that  George  the  Third,  "instead  of  protecting,"  has  sent  "fleets  and  armies 
to  America  to  confiscate  our  property  and  spread  fire,  sword  and  desola- 
tion throughout  our  country,  in  order  to  compel  us  to  the  most  detestable 
tyranny ;  whereby  we  are  obliged,  by  necessity,  and  it  becomes  our  highest 
duty,  to  use  every-  means  with  which  God  and  nature  have  furnished  us, 
in  support  of  our  invaluable  rights  and  privileges,  to  oppose  that  power 
which  is  exerted  only  for  our  destruction."  The  repeal  clause  follows 
and  then  instead  of  His  Majesty's  Colony  as  a  Colonial  title  are  to  be  sub- 
stituted the  words,  "The  Governor  and  Company  of  the  English  Col- 
ony OF  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plant.\tions." 

Thereafter  all  acts  of  legislative  or  of  legal  character  are  to  issue 
under  this  supreme  title.  The  courts  of  law  were  no  longer  King's  Courts, 
and  all  writs,  processes  and  commissions  were  hereafter  to  bear  only  the 
title  of  the  Colony  with  no  reference  to  royalty.  Col.  Jonathan  Arnold, 
experienced  in  statesmanship  and  diplomacy  and  a  deputy  of  Providence, 
was  chosen  to  introduce  the  bill  in  the  House  of  Deputies,  which  was  done 
on  Saturday,  May  the  fourth.  The  official  records  are  silent  as  to  the 
debate  which  followed  and  no  record  of  the  roll  call  of  either  House 
exists.  All  that  we  need  to  know  is  that  the  bill  declaring  our  Colony 
free  and  independent  of  Great  Britain,  passed  both  Houses  of  the  General 
Assembly  on  the  fourth  of  May,  1776.  On  May  the  6th,  Governor 
Cooke,  in  a  letter  to  General  Washington,  wrote,  "I  also  enclose  an  Act 
discharging  the  inhabitants  of  this  Colony  from  allegiance  to  the  King  of 
Great  Britain,  which  was  carried  in  the  House  of  Deputies,  after  a  debate, 
with  but  six  dissentient  voices,  there  being  upwards  of  sixty  members 
present."  The  Governor  also  advised  Washington  that  the  Rhode  Island 
delegates  in  Congress  were  instructed  to  join  with  the  major  delegates 
"in  entering  into  treaty  with  any  prince,  state  or  potentate  for  the  security 
of  the  Colonies,  and  to  adopt  any  other  measures  that  may  be  thought 
prudent  and  effectual."     In  the  House  of  Deputies,  it  was  proposed  to 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCE  747 

refer  the  question  of  independence  to  the  people,  but  tlic  proposal  was 
withdrawn. 

In  a  letter  to  lion.  Thomas  Gushing  of  Massachusetts,  Governor 
Cooke  wrote,  "The  enclosed  Act  passed  the  Upper  House  unanimously, 
and  the  Lower  House  by  a  vast  majority ;  there  being  upwards  of  sixty 
members  present,  and  only  six  votes  against  it."  Following  this  Act,  the 
Assembly  instructed  Hopkins  and  Ellery.  Delegates  in  Congress,  to  pro- 
mote "the  strictest  union  and  confederation  between  the  said  United  Col- 
onies, for  exerting  their  whole  strength  and  force  to  annoy  the  common 
enemy,  and  to  secure  to  the  said  Colonies  their  rights  and  liberties,  both 
civil  and  religious,  *  *  *  taking  the  greatest  care  to  secure  to  this 
Colony,  in  the  strongest  and  most  perfect  manner,  its  present  established 
form,  and  all  the  powers  of  government,  so  far  as  relate  to  its  internal 
policy  and  conduct  of  our  own  affairs,  civil  and  religious." 

Rhode  Island  hereby  issued  its  Declaration  of  Independence,  by  an 
almost  unanimous  vote  of  its  legislators,  who  had  just  been  elected,  in 
the  midst  of  the  turmoil  of  a  civil  war.  Its  significance  few  in  our  day 
can  realize.  The  smallest  of  the  thirteen  Colonies,  the  most  exposed  by 
land  and  sea  to  the  occupation  of  the  British  forces,  the  one  most  liable 
to  easy  subjugation  by  a  hostile  army  and  navy,  the  strong  Tory  element 
in  the  two  large  towns,  the  uncertainty  of  the  action  of  other  Colonies 
and  of  the  Continental  Congress,  the  distressing  need  of  men,  munitions 
and  money  for  defence  were  the  natural,  the  real  deterrents  of  such  an 
independent  attitude.  But  it  was  taken  and  Rhode  Island  has  the  supreme 
honor  of  declaring  political  independence  in  advance  of  all  the  other 
Colonies,  and  of  asstmiing  national  independency  with  po]nilar  supremacy 
to  direct,  prior  to  any  other  people  or  nation  on  the  globe.  The  records  of 
the  Assembly  closed  with  the  motto,  "God  Save  the  United  Colonies." 
Two  months  later,  on  July  4th,  177^),  twelve  of  the  Colonies  joined  Rhode 
Island  in  a  Confederate  Union,  when  the  motto  of  loj-alty  was  changed  to 
"God  Save  the  United  St.\tes." 

In  a  singular  way  Rhode  Island  had  taken  the  lead  in  events  leading 
up  to  Colonial  independence.  The  Gaspee  affair  came  of  our  maritime 
location.  Our  naval  leadership  sprang  from  the  same  source.  The  sug- 
gestion of  a  Continental  Congress  grew  out  of  the  spontaneous  individu- 
uality  of  our  citizenship,  wrought  into  united  action,  in  the  presence  of  a 
common  danger  and  a  common  need.  Rhode  Island  independency,  pure 
and  simple,  appeared  in  Governor  Ward's  refusal  to  approve  the  Stamp 
Act  at  an  earlier  date  and  the  free  spirit  of  an  independent  electorate 
was  most  manifest  in  the  Act  of  May  fourth,  1776,  and  this  is  directly 
traceable  to  the  free  spirit  of  the  founders  of  1638,  and  the  free  guar- 
antees of  the  Royal  Charter  of  1663.  There  seemed  great  unanimity  in 
the  minds  of  the  legislators,  in  the  passage  of  the  bill  for  Colonial  separar 


748  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

tion  from  Great  Britain,  but  back  of  their  votes  were  personal  and  political 
doubts  and  misunderstandings  as  to  the  real  attitude  of  the  electorate, 
and  the  proposal  of  a  popular  referendum  clearly  shows  it.  Rliode  Island 
had  assumed  leadership  in  Colonial  and  at  the  time  there  was  no  great 
certainty  of  a  general  following.  Sympathically,  the  Colonies  were  united 
in  a  common  defense,  but  our  Colony  had  "crossed  the  Rubicon,"  and 
the  other  twelve  might  or  might  not  follow.  And  as  to  leadership,  she  was 
not  in  a  position  to  head  the  procession  of  free  states.  She  was  poor, 
was  poorly  defended,  had  few  statesmen  of  first  rank,  and  her  troops 
were  few  even  for  her  own  defence;  still  more,  the  Tory  element  was 
strong  in  Rhode  Island,— stronger  in  proportion  to  population  than  in 
any  other  Colony.  The  Quakers,  strong  in  numbers,  influential  in  pol- 
itics and  usually  of  the  property  class,  were  opposed  to  the  war,  by  relig- 
ious principles.  The  Governor  and  Deputy  Governor  had  already  publicly 
declared  their  protest  against  military  organization  and  activity.  New- 
port, the  abode  of  wealth  and  culture,  saw  the  sacrifice  of  all  earthly 
values  in  the  event  of  a  struggle  and  to  add  to  the  violence  of  forces  which 
stood  athwart  the  patriot  movement  were  the  clergy  and  body  of  laity 
of  the  Episcopal  Church,  which  was  always  and  everywhere  loyal  to  its 
mother, — the  English  State  Church.  In  some  of  the  Colonies,  prior  to 
the  battles  of  Lexington  and  Bunker  Hill,  in  1775,  a  majority  of  the 
people  were  loyal  to  the  home  government  and  hoped  for  a  reconciliation 
of  differences.  Ardent  patriots  were  in  doubt  what  course  to  pursue. 
During  that  revolutionary  year  it  became  evident  that  Great  Britain  had 
decided  to  use  coercive  measures  towards  the  Colonies,  and  men  of  luke- 
warm spirit  and  purposes  were  aroused  to  resist  force  and  arms  and  the 
major  sentiment  was  now  fairly  or  intensely  patriotic.  The  line  between 
Colonial  Whigs  and  Tories  was  now  more  clearly  defined  and  alignment 
between  loyal  and  disloyal  Colonists  rapidly  followed.  In  Rhode  Island, 
the  conservative  or  Tory  element  made  no  organized  effort  to  resist  the 
liberal  sentiment.  It  was  content  in  the  feeling  that  the  British  authority 
could  be  easily  maintained  in  America  by  arms  if  not  by  peaceful  arbitra- 
tion, and  that  any  show  of  opposition  would  intensify  Colonial  patriot- 
ism and  make  patriots  out  of  doubters.  In  fact  they  did  nothing,  said 
little  and  waited.  And  King  George  lent  them  no  aid.  Toryismi  in 
Rhode  Island  was  a  passive  factor.  The  town  of  Newport  was  a  Tory 
town,  while  Providence  was  a  Whig  town, — a  town  of  patriots,  controlled 
by  a  masterly  patriotic  body  of  men  and  women,  organized,  alert,  courag- 
eous, daring.  While  Providence  controlled  the  northern  section  of  the 
Colony  in  patriotic  measures,  it  also  had  come  into  a  new  and  command- 
ing position  in  all  parts  of  the  Colony, — Newport  excepted.  It  was  at 
this  junction  that  the  ancient  scepter  of  power  was  transferred  from 
Aquidneck  to  Moshassuck,  and  the  law  makers  from  the  old  Newport 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  IXDEPENDENXE  749 

State  House  to  the  newer  center  of  legislative  power  at  Providence. 
William  EUery  and  Metcalf  Bowler  were  the  last  of  the  Newport  school 
■of  statesmen. 

We  have  already  noted  the  drastic  action  of  Providence  patriots 
towards  traders  of  the  Tory  stamp  from  P)Oston.    Tar  and  feathers,  pub- 
lic whipping's,  prisons  or  the  hangman's  rope  were  ready  instruments  to 
convert  Tories  to  Whigs,  or  to  punish  the  resistants.     Cornwallis  called 
the  loyalists  "timid  "and  the  patriots  as  "inveterate."    General  Robertson, 
in  his  testimony  on  the  conduct  of  the  war  said  that  the  patriots  were  only 
one-third  of  the  people,  while  they  made  a  great  majority  by  their  national 
s])irit   and   energ}-.     They  were   like   a   little    Kentuckian,   weighing  one 
hundred  pounds,  who  said,  "When  I  am  mad,  1  weigh  a  full  ton."     The 
Rhode  Island  patriot  was  weighty  in  word,  deed  and  act.     In  October, 
1775,  and  prior  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  the  Colony  sec|ues- 
tered  the  estates  in  Rhode  Island  of  Governor  Hutchinson,  Samuel  Sew- 
all,  Gilbert  Deblois,  John  and  Jonathan  Simpson,  of  Boston,  and  of  Dr. 
Thomas  Moffat,  Ralph  Inman,  George  Rome  (the  heirs  of  Andrew  Ol- 
iver), and  Jahleel  and   Benjamin  Brenton,  late  residents  of   Newport. 
The  estate  of  Benjamin  Brenton  was  returned  to  him,  on  proof  that  he 
was  loyal  to  the  Colony.     Shops,  goods,  book  accounts,  rents  were  also 
confiscated    and    conveyances    were    declared    void.      John    and    Arthur 
Dennis  of   Providence,  suspected  as  royalists,  on   their   declaration  of 
loyalty  and  prayer  for  clemency  and  discharge  from  arrest.     Refusal  of 
several   prominent  gentlemen   of   Newport  to  subscribe  to  the  test  of 
loyalty  were  removed  to  other  towns  where  they  were  required  to  support 
themselves,  pay  all  expenses,  and  to  be  put  in  jail  if  they  left  the  town. 
Col.  Joseph  Wanton,  Jr.,  son  of  the  Governor  was  removed  to  Jamestown, 
Augustus  Johnston  to  South  Kingstown,  Matthew  Cozzens  to  Cumber- 
land,  John    Haliburton    to   Hopkinson,    William    Hunter   to    Smithfield, 
Samuel   Gibbs  to  Scituate,   Silas   Cooke  to  South   Kingstown,   Anthony 
Lechmere  to  Gloucester,  Christopher  Hargill  to  Cumberland,   Andrew 
Christie  to  North  Kingstown,  and  Joseph  Farrick  to  Cumberland.     Rich- 
ard Beale,  John  Nicholl,  Nicholas  Lechmere,  Thomas  Vernon  and  Walter 
Chaloner  were  sent  to  Gloucester,  Matthew  Cozzens,  for  disobedience  was 
committed  to  Providence  jail.    Of  eighty  citizens  of  Newport  summoned 
to  appear  before  Judge  Bowler  to  take  the  test  oath,  all  but  three  refused 
to  sign  and  were  disarmed.     In  1777,  Congress  advised  the  confiscation 
and  sale  of  all  Tory  estates.     The  British  officers,  in  1778,  organized  a 
corps  of  Tories,  on  Rhode  Island,  known  as  the  Loyal  Newport  Associ- 
ators.    Their  number,  officers,  etc.,  are  not  known,  except  as  to  one  com- 
pany, whose  officers  were  appointed  by   Gen.   Pigot,  Januar)-   i,   1778: 
Joseph   Durfee,   Captain,  vice   Simon   Pease,    deceased:    Giles   Stanton, 
First  Lieutenant:  John  Thurston,  Jr.,  Second  Lieutenant.     Many  of  the 


7SO  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

royalists,  with  moveable  possessions  either  took  up  their  residences  in 
other  Colony  or  removed  to  Nova  Scotia  or  other  English  domains.  The 
policy  of  our  Colony  was  never  more  severe  than  the  confiscation  of 
royalists'  property,  or  short  prison  confinement  in  the  cases  of  the  most 
pronounced,  while  in  some  of  the  Colonies  hanging  of  Tories  was  not 
only  threatened  but  executed.  Joseph  Hawley  wrote  to  Elbridge  Gerry 
of  Massachusetts,  "Can  we  subsist — did  any  state  ever  subsist — without 
exterminating  traitors?  It  is  amazingly  wonderful  that,  having  no  capital 
punishment  for  our  intestine  enemies,  we  have  not  been  utterly  ruined 
before  now."  The  Continental  Congress  authorized  the  several  Colonial 
Committees  of  Safety  to  disarm  "the  unworthy  Americans  who  take  the 
part  of  the  oppressors." 

Privateering  was  an  eflficient  method  of  warfare  as  well  as  source  of 
large  profits  to  those  engaging  in  it.  It  called  for  skill  in  seamanship  and 
daring  and  courage  in  the  business,  and  Rhode  Island  furnished  vessels, 
outfits  and  men  for  what  many  called  sportive  naval  warfare.  Newport 
capital  and  seamen  had  for  years,  profited  by  the  successful  seizure  of 
enemy  ships  of  other  than  English  flags,  but  now  that  flag  was  the  coveted 
object  of  search  and  attack  by  our  coastal  cruisers.  The  Wantons,  in 
the  early  day,  won  fame  and  fortune  from  the  prizes  taken  on  the  Amer- 
ican coast  and  their  successes  in  the  Revolutionary  period  were  no  less 
hazardous  or  successful.  Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  achieve- 
ments of  Hopkins,  Whipple  and  Paul  Jones,  and  their  names  will  again 
appear  in  naval  story.  Rhode  Island  had  many  vessels  and  seamen  who 
rendered  excellent  service  to  the  Colonies  by  the  capture  of  vessels  with 
gims,  ammunition,  food  stuffs,  clothing  and  other  much  needed  supplies 
for  the  soldiers.  Cooper  writes  that  "without  the  succors  that  were  ob- 
tained in  this  manner,  the  Revolution  must  have  been  checked  at  the 
outset."  Robert  Morris  made  large  profits  and  Washington  invested 
money  in  privateering.  In  the  first  year  of  the  war  nearly  350  British 
vessels  had  been  captured,  worth,  ships  and  cargoes  $5,000,000.  Dur- 
ing less  than  five  months,  in  1776,  65  privateers  were  fitted  and  sent 
to  sea  from  this  Colony.  Dr.  Stiles'  record  states,  "It  has  been  computed 
that  this  war  by  prizes,  by  building  ships  of  war  and  the  Navy  has  already 
within  a  year  and  a  half  brought  into  Providence  near  tliree  hundred 
thousand  sterling;  which  is  double  the  property  of  the  whole  town,  two 
years  ago." 

The  Continental  Congress  had  permitted  the  fitting  out  of  "armed 
vessels  to  cruise  on  the  enemies  of  the  United  States"  in  March,  1776; 
directly  following  the  Act  of  the  General  Assembly  of  Rhode  Island  and 
in  May  the  Colonial  Assembly  passed  an  act  relative  to  the  distribution 
of  the  value  of  the  prizes,  one-third  to  the  officers  and  two-thirds  to  the 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCE  751 

Colony,  and  when  legally  condemned,  one-half  to  the  officers  and  crew 
and  the  other  half  to  the  Colony. 

Capt.  Silas  Talbot,  Massachusetts  born,  an  adopted  son  of  Provi- 
dence, won  a  reputation  for  chivalrous  daring  at  the  age  of  twenty-five, 
on  the  Hudson,  by  rigging  a  fire  ship  of  an  old  sloop  by  which  to  destroy 
the  frigate  "Asia,"  a  sixty-four  gun  English  ship,  at  anchor  below  Fort 
Washington.  At  midnight  he  got  his  craft  ready  and  drifting  down  the 
river  with  the  tide,  was  near  the  "Asia"  before  he  was  discovered  and  re- 
ceived a  broadside  from  the  frigate.  Alongside,  grappling  irons  made 
fast  the  fire  ship  to  the  frigate,  a  column  of  fire  shot  up  from  the  blazing 
bomb-boat,  and  Talbot  and  his  aids  escaped  to  their  boats,  with  the  loss 
of  only  one  officer.  Ensign  John  Thomas  of  Rhode  Island.  The  "Asia"  was 
saved  from  total  destruction  only  by  the  combined  efTorts  of  sister  ships, 
but  so  alarmed  was  the  commander  that  he  fled  for  safety  in  the  lower 
harbor.  Congress  promoted  Talbot  to  the  rank  of  major  for  the  "spir- 
ited attempt."  In  December,  1776,  two  fire-ships  were  ordered  for  Capt. 
Talbot. 

In  October,  1778,  we  find  Major  Silas  Talbot  at  the  head  of  a  daring 
deed,  in  Rhode  Island  waters.  The  east  passage  to  Narragansett  Bay 
was  blockaded  by  the  "Pigot"  galley,  a  vessel  of  200  tons,  armed  with  eight 
twelve-pounders  and  a  crew  of  45  men.  In  a  small  sloop  of  two  three- 
pounders  and  a  crew  of  60  men  selected  from  Providence  troops,  Talbot 
set  sail  down  the  Bay,  on  the  October  27th,  anchored  in  Mt.  Hope  Bay 
and  proceeded  to  Little  Compton  to  reconnoitre.  Securing  fifteen  more 
men  he  set  sail  down  the  Sakonet  River,  on  the  night  of  the  28th.  The 
night  was  very  dark,  the  wind  favorable  and  a  quick  run  was  made  to 
Fogland  Ferry,  passing  the  fort  with  the  tide  under  bare  poles.  A  boat 
was  sent  to  find  the  galley  and  now  sails  were  hoisted  and  the  little  .sloop 
full  of  courageous  men,  bore  down  upon  the  enemy.  Shots  were  ex- 
changed but  before  the  "Pigot"  could  get  her  broadsides  in  action,  the  jib- 
boom  of  the  "Hawk"  tore  through  the  boarding-nettings  and  caught  in  the 
foe's  shrouds,  when  Lieut.  Helme  with  his  command  ran  along  the  bow- 
sprit and  boarded  the  Britain.  The  crew  were  driven  below,  the  conv 
mander  alone  fighting  gallantly  on  deck.  Not  a  man  was  killed  in  the 
fight.  The  "Pigot"  as  a  prize  was  sailed  to  Stonington  and  Congress  made 
Major  Talbot  a  lieutenant-colonel  for  his  gallant  act,  while  the  General 
Assembly  voted  swords  to  Lieut.-Col.  Talbot  and  Lieut.  Helme  for  dis- 
tinguished deeds. 

On  June,  1779,  Gen.  Gates  commissioned  Lieut.-Col.  Talbot  to  guard 
the  coast,  with  a  small  sloop  of  100  tons,  named  the  "Argo,"  with  ten  guns 
and  60  men.  He  captured  the  privateer  "Lively,"  a  ten-gim  vessel  with 
three  prizes  which  were  brought  to  Providence  and  soon  after  returned 
with  two  large  vessels  of  12  and  18  guns,  captured  oS  Sandy  Hook,  after 


752  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

a  desperate  fight  of  four  and  a  half  hours.  Having  recruited  the  Argo 
with  twelve  guns,  Talbot  at  the  order  of  Gates,  made  a  coast  cruise,  cap- 
turing the  Tory  privateer.  King  George,  of  ten  guns,  belonging  in  New- 
port and  commanded  by  Stanton  Harard.  In  boarding  the  vessel  and  in 
the  fight,  Talbot  did  not  lose  a  man.  This  privateer  had  been  a  great 
annoyance  to  the  Americans  and  her  seizure  gave  great  rejoicing  to  the 
Colony.  In  September,  the  Argo  returned  to  Providence  with  four  other 
valuable  prizes.  This  cruise  being  reported  to  Congress  by  Hon.  John 
Jay,  Lieut. -Col.  Talbot  was  made  a  captain  in  the  Continental  Navy.  In 
December,  1779,  the  Argo  was  ordered  on  a  three  months'  cruise  with 
Capt.  Talbot  in  command.  Before  he  could  sail,  the  owners  reclaimed 
her,  when  Capt.  Talbot  took  command  of  the  privateer  Washington,  was 
soon  after  captured  by  the  British,  confined  on  the  Jersey  prison  ship  for 
a  while,  then  sent  to  England  and  held  in  Dartmouth  prison  till  he  was 
exchanged  in  December,  1781,  reaching  Providence  in  the  spring  of  1782. 
Later  he  built  the  frigate  Constitution,  44  gims,  in  1797,  and  was  her 
commander  for  four  years.  He  died  in  New  York,  in  18113,  after  a  life 
of  distinguished  naval  and  military  services  for  the  defence  of  the  Col- 
onies and  the  establislmnent  of  the  Federal  Union. 

In  February,  1778,  Rhode  Island  sailors  scored  another  naval  victory 
at  New  Providence,  when  Capt.  John  Rathbone,  in  command  of  the  U.  S. 
sloop  Providence,  twelve  guns,  landed  a  party  of  30  men,  captured  the 
fort,  six  vessels  in  the  harbor,  drove  off  a  British  sloop-of-war,  spiked 
the  guns  of  the  fort,  and  brought  away  a  large  lot  of  military  stores, 
without  the  loss  of  a  man.  In  many  other  naval  operations,  Rhode  Island 
sailors,  commanded  by  Rhode  Island  officers,  were  victorious  on  the  sea, 
while  the  militia  was  engaged  in  protecting  the  Colony  or  assisting  in 
outside  campaigns.  Among  distinguished  captains  in  the  Navy,  to  those 
already  named  should  be  added  Major  William  Taggert,  Capt.  John  B. 
Hopkins,  Capt.  James  Rogert,  Capt.  Joseph  Mauran,  Capt.  Joseph  Olney. 

The  Rhode  Island  militia  were  as  efficient  and  brave  as  their  brothers 
of  the  Navy.  In  April,  1775,  a  general  muster  of  the  Colony  showed 
2,000  men  in  Providence  County,  besides  a  troop  of  horse.  Kent  County 
had  1,500  men  under  arms.  The  estimate  of  the  other  counties  gives 
them  3,500  men.  These  were  exclusive  of  the  chartered  companies. 
This  Colony  had  not  less  than  seven  or  eight  thousand  men  on  call  for 
local  or  Continental  service.  Brigadier  General  Nathanael  Greene  was 
commander-in-chief  of  the  active  military  force.  Seventeen  hundred 
men  joined  the  grand  army  at  Boston,  in  June.  Another  regiment  of  500 
men,  under  command  of  Col.  William  Richmond  was  enlisted  for  one 
year.  The  Kingston  Reds  and  the  Captain  General's  Cavaliers  were 
chartered  in  November,  1775.  These  with  the  other  chartered  companies 
constituted  the  body  of  defensible  militia  out  of  a  population  of  59,707  in 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCE  753 

1774,  and  of  55,01 1  in  1776.  Tlie  exact  amount  of  man-power  for  military 
uses,  on  May  4th,  1776,  when  Rhode  Island  declared  her  independence 
of  Great  Britain  cannot  be  stated  with  exactness.  It  must  be  estimated. 
The  military  age  was  between  16  and  60  years.  This  includes  about  20 
per  cent,  of  the  whole  population.  Allowing  the  total  population  of  the 
state  to  be  55,000,  the  militia  would  constitute  one-fifth  of  that  number, 
1 1,000  men.  If  we  allow  one-tenth  to  be  disqualified  by  reason  of  physical 
deficiencies  for  service,  we  have  a  net  total  of  10,000  effective  men.  able 
to  bear  arms.  The  town  of  Barrington,  a  farming  community  contained 
an  average  Rhode  Island  stamp  of  men.  Its  population  in  1776  was  538, 
twenty  per  cent,  of  which  was  107.6.  The  census  of  1777  of  the  town 
gives  the  names  of  all  males  between  16-60  years.  They  number  102,  of 
whom  5  or  20  per  cent.,  are  luiable  to  bear  arms,  leaving  97  for  militia 
ser\'ice,  or  18  per  cent,  of  the  total  population.  If  we  apply  the  same 
reasoning  to  the  State  for  1776,  we  find  the  males  able  to  bear  arms  to  be 
10,000,  or  i8-f-  per  cent,  of  55,011.  If  we  allow  an  annual  decrease  of 
1,000  to  the  militia  for  seven  years  we  shall  have  17,000  men  for  militia 
age  in  the  State  between  1775  and  1782. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  all  the  males  of  military  age,  16-60,  in 
the  State  took  their  share  of  service  as  called  upon,  in  local  or  Continental 
service.  The  home  work  was  in  large  measure  done  by  woinen  and  child- 
ren under  16,  with  the  aid  of  the  militia-men,  when  not  on  duty.  When 
we  remember  that  a  British  army  occupied  Rhode  Island  and  a  British 
navy  the  Bay  from  1776- 1780,  we  can  readily  understand  the  occasion 
for  constant  guard  of  our  coast  line  of  over  100  miles,  that  demanded 
guards,  day  and  night,  summer  and  winter  for  that  long  period.  It  is 
fair  to  say  that  not  a  militia-man  escaped  service  in  some  form  or  other, — 
a  service  more  constant,  universal  and  exacting  than  in  any  other  State, 
Even  the  women  sometimes  performed  guard  duty  to  relieve  the  men. 

The  fine  harbor  at  Newport  and  the  protecting  environs  of  Narra- 
gansett  Bay  furnished  a  tempting  rendezvous  for  a  large  British  fleet 
and  hither  sailed  Sir  Peter  Parker,  with  seven  ships  of  the  line,  four 
frigates  and  seventy  transports  on  the  7th  of  December,  1776,  and  on 
the  following  day  took  possession  of  Newport  with  8,000  troops,  most 
of  whom  were  quartered  at  the  farm  houses  on  the  Island  for  the  winter. 
And  here  the  fleet  and  troops  remained  until  October  25th,  1779,  making 
the  Rhode  Island  a  battle  ground  for  nearly  three  years. 

.•\  hostile  fleet  occupying  our  coastal  entrances  and  an  army  of  British 
and  Hessian  troops,  under  command  of  General  Clinton,  made  Rhode 
Island  the  theatre  of  war  in  New  England  and  made  demands  upon  our 
energies  and  resources  of  men,  nnmitions  and  money,  far  in  excess  of  our 
normal  ability.    All  the  militia  of  the  Colony  were  called  to  arms  and  calls 

R  1—48 


754  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

were  made  for  aid  on  the  neighboring  Colonies.  The  women  and  children 
of  Newport,  Providence,  Bristol  and  East  Greenwich  moved  to  inland 
towns,  the  stock  on  the  Islands  was  driven  away  and  defenders'  were 
stationed  at  Warwick,  Pawtuxet  and  Tower  Hill.  The  State  and  the 
Island  were  two  hostile  camps.  Providence  was  given  up  to  the  militia, 
the  college  suspended  studies  and  University  Hall  was  used  as  barracks 
for  troops.  Gen.  \'arnum  was  in  command  of  a  brigade  of  three  regi- 
ments of  fifteen  months'  men,  and  Gen.  Malniedy,  a  French  officer,  was 
appointed  Director  of  Defence.  A  convention  of  the  New  England  Col- 
onies was  held  at  Providence,  December  25th.  Stephen  Hopkins  presid- 
ing. It  was  advised  that  an  army  of  6,000  men  should  be  collected  in 
Rhode  Island,  that  no  more  paper  money  be  issued,  but  that  taxation  and 
borrowing  money  at  five  per  cent,  be  resorted  to  for  funds  for  defence. 
The  General  Assembly  fixed  the  prices  of  labor,  of  food,  and  of  clothing, 
with  penalties  for  violation.  Gen.  Arnold  was  sent  by  Washington  to 
aid  in  the  defence  of  Rhode  Island.  In  March.  1777,  the  British  erected 
batteries  on  Butts  Hill  at  the  north  end  of  the  Island.  In  May,  Gen. 
Prescott  was  put  in  command  at  Newport.  Two  months  later  a  deed  of 
daring  was  planned  and  successfully  executed  by  Lieut. -Col.  William 
Barton  in  the  capture  of  Gen.  Prescott.  Barton  was  stationed  at  a  fort 
at  Tiverton,  near  Stone  Bridge.  He  learned  that  the  British  commander 
was  quartered  with  an  aide,  at  a  house  in  Portsmouth,  on  the  west  road, 
five  miles  from  Newport  and  about  a  mile  from  the  Bay.  Choosing  six 
officers  and  thirty-four  men,  the  whole  party.  Barton  in  command,  rowed 
from  Tiverton  to  Bristol  in  five  whale-boats,  on  July  4th,  1777,  and  on  the 
night  of  the  6th  to  Warwick  Neck,  where  a  storm  detained  them  two  days. 
On  the  night  of  the  ninth,  he  took  to  his  boats,  which  were  rowed  by  an 
experienced  crew,  in  perfect  silence  along  the  west  shores  of  Prudence,  so 
near  to  the  enemy's  ships  in  the  Bay  as  to  hear  the  shout  "All's  Well,"  of 
the  sentinel  on  duty,  and  landing  on  the  Portsmouth  shore,  dividing  his 
men  in  five  divisions,  he  followed  up  the  ravine  from  Carr's  Point  to  the 
mansion  house.  The  sentinel  on  guard  was  seized  and  while  one  division 
watched  the  road  the  others  entered  the  house  by  different  doors,  taking 
all  by  surprise.  Prescott  was  captured  in  bed.  His  aide,  jumping  from 
a  window  was  seized  and  the  whole  party  returned  in  silence  to  their 
boats,  rowed  back  to  Warwick  Cove,  an  inlet  of  Greenwich  Bay,  on  War- 
wick Neck.  The  excursion  occupied  six  and  a  half  hours.  Prescott  was 
given  a  breakfast  at  a  house  on  the  banks  of  the  Cove  and  was  taken  in  a 
coach  to  Providence,  from  whence,  four  days  afterwards  he  was  sent  on 
parole  to  Connecticut.  Gen.  Pigot,  from  New  York,  took  Prescott's  com- 
mand at  Newport.  Congress  voted  a  sword  to  Col.  Barton  for  his  gal- 
lantry and  a  few  months  later  was  appointed  aide-de-camp  to  Gen.  Na- 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCE  755 

thanael  Greene,  with  the  title  of  colonel  conferred  by  Congress.  He  was 
also  commended  to  General  Washington. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  and  important  miUtary  acts  of  Rhode 
Island,  in  1778,  was  the  enlisting  of  negro  slaves  in  the  Continental  .Army. 
The  measure  was  proposed  to  Gen.  Washington  by  Brig.  Gen.  Varnum, 
who  stated,  "It  is  imagined  that  a  battalion  of  negroes  can  be  easily  raised 
there."  The  plan  was  approved  by  Washington  as  a  politic  and  useful 
method  of  adding  to  the  military  strength  of  the  State  and  on  February 
9,  the  Assembly  voted  to  raise  a  regiment  of  negro  slaves,  who  were  to  be 
given  their  freedom  on  their  enlistment  and  their  owners  were  to  be  paid 
according  to  the  valuation  of  a  committee,  the  limit  of  value  of  a  single 
slave  being  fixed  at  one  hundred  and  twenty  pounds.  Six  deputies  pro- 
tested against  the  act  on  the  grounds  that  a  full  regiment  could  not  enlist, 
that  the  measure  would  be  interpreted  by  the  British  as  a  "Forlorn  hope," 
that  the  expense  would  be  great  and  that  the  owners  would  not  be  satis- 
fied with  the  compensation  proposed.  The  resolutions  preceding  the  act 
recite,  that  "for  the  preservation  of  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  United 
States,  it  is  necessary  that  the  whole  powers  of  government  should  be 
exercised  in  recruiting  the  Continental  battalions;  *  *  *  and  where- 
as history  aftords  us  frequent  precedents  of  the  wisest,  the  freest  and 
bravest  nations  having  liberated  their  slaves,  and  enlisted  them  as  soldiers 
to  fight  in  defence  of  their  country;  and  also  whereas,  the  enemy,  with  a 
great  force,  have  taken  possession  of  the  Capital,  and  of  a  great  part  of 
the  state,"  therefore  it  was  voted  "that  every  able-bodied  negro,  mulatto, 
or  Indian  man  slave,  in  this  State  may  enlist  *  *  *  to  serve  during 
the  continuance  of  the  present  war  with  Great  Britain." 

Each  slave  enlisting  was  immediately  discharged  from  service  to  mas- 
ter or  mistress  and  was  absolutely  free  as  though  he  had  never  been  a 
slave. 

Each  slave  enlisting  became  a  soldier  of  the  Continental  army,  en- 
titled to  all  the  wages,  bounties  and  encouragements  granted  to  any  soldier 
in  the  National  ser\-ice.  In  case  of  sickness  or  disability  from  wounds, 
incurred  in  the  service,  the  former  slave  was  to  be  supported  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  State.  These  were  wise  and  worthy  acts  of  a  new,  demo- 
cratic State,  and  the  results  in  the  loyal  service  of  a  grateful  negro  race 
fully  justified  the  act  as  a  patriotic  and  far-reaching  measure  of  National 
defence.  At  this  juncture  in  Rhode  Island,  Generals  Greene  and  Varnum 
urged  General  Washington  to  send  all  Rhode  Island  troops  home,  for 
local  defence,  which  was  done  later. 

In  the  spring  of  1778,  General  Pigot,  British  commander  at  New 
York,  sent  six  hundred  men  up  the  bay  to  destroy  a  number  of  gimboats 
in  the  Kickemuit  .River,  east  of  Warren.  Landing  just  below  the  town, 
they  marched  across  the  peninsula,  burned  seventy  flatboats,   the  row- 


756  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

galley  Washington  and  a  grist  mill.  At  Warren  the  troops  set  fire  to  the 
town,  destroying  the  Baptist  meeting  house  and  other  buildings,  blowing 
up  the  powder  magazine  and  taking  a  number  of  prisoners,  marched  to 
Bristol,  which  they  entered  without  resistance,  burned  the  Episcopal  meet- 
ing house  and  eighteen  dwellings,  plundered  the  town  and  carried  away 
forty  prisoners. 

On  August  29,  1778,  the  most  important  and  the  most  decisive  event 
of  the  Revolutionary  War,  within  the  limits  of  New  England,  took  place 
on  the  island  of  Rhode  Island,  known  in  history  as  the  "Battle  of  Rhode 
Island."  For  nearly  two  years  a  large  British  fleet  had  occupied  Narra- 
gansett  Bay,  and  British  troops  had  occupied  the  island  of  Rhode  Island — 
a  constant  menace  to  the  New  England  States — ^with  an  intention  to  use 
this  strategic  position  to  take  possession  of  this  section,  when  military 
affairs  in  the  Middle  States  and  the  South  were  ripe  for  an  invasion  of 
the  Northeast.  It  is  true  that  the  Burgoyne  expedition  had  failed  to  cut 
off  the  East  from  the  Middle  States,  from  whence  General  Washington 
was  carrying  on  the  general  campaigns,  but  Howe  still  hoped,  by  land  and 
naval  forces,  to  conquer  and  control  all  the  territory  east  of  the  Hudson 
and  Newport  seemed  best  suited  to  his  purpose. 

At  this  critical  time  a  wonderful  deliverance  came  to  the  warring 
States,  when  Count  d'Estaing,  in  command  of  a  French  fleet  of  twelve 
battleships  and  three  frigates,  after  a  stormy  passage  of  ninety  days  from 
Toulon,  anchored  in  Delaware  Bay,  to  the  great  joy  of  Washington  and 
the  patriot  forces.  This  was  the  turning  point  in  the  American  Revolu- 
tion, when  final  triumph  was  assured  by  the  alliance  of  French  naval  and 
land  forces.  The  battle  of  Monmouth  led  to  the  withdrawal  of  the  British 
fleet  from  Delaware  Bay  to  New  York,  ten  days  before  the  arrival  of  the 
French  forces.  D'Estaing  followed  Howe  and  anchored  in  the  Narrows, 
with  Howe's  fleet  above  on  the  Hudson.  With  General  Clinton  at  New 
York,  in  command  of  the  British  troops,  and  Howe,  of  the  naval  arm,  the 
two  officers  decided  to  concentrate  their  forces  at  Newport  for  attack  or 
for  defence,  and  to  that  end  7,000  British  and  Hessians  were  brought  to 
Rhode  Island  and  made  camp  on  the  island  in  July,  1778.  An  attack  on 
Providence  was  expected  daily.  The  attention  of  General  Washington 
was  now  directed  to  the  defence  of  Rliode  Island  and  Major-General  John 
Sullivan,  a  brilliant  leader,  was  sent  to  command  the  militia  of  the  East 
and  reached  Tiverton  in  July.  He  reported  to  Washington  that  he  had  but 
1,600  troops  in  the  field.  The  Council  of  War  called  out  one-half  of  the 
effective  force  of  the  State  to  serve  for  twenty  days  from  August  first, 
and  ordered  the  other  half  to  be  ready  on  call.  On  July  29,  Count 
D'Estaing,  in  command  of  the  large  French  fleet  with  4,000  men,  arrived 
off  Newport  and  blockaded  the  enemy  in  the  bay.  As  a  result  of  the 
blockade  and  the  disposition  of  the  fleet,  the  British  troops  on  Conanicut 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCE       757 

withdrew  to  Newport  and  the  British  vessels  in  the  harbor,  in  the  bay  and 
in  Sakonet  River  were  either  blown  up  or  burned  within  ten  days  of  the 
arrival  of  the  French  forces.  Major-General  Nathanael  Greene  and  Gen- 
eral John  Glover  volunteered,  as  did  the  Marquis  de  Lafayette,  for  the 
approaching  battle.  Two  Continental  brigades,  Varnum's  and  Glover's, 
with  two  companies  of  artillery  from  White  Plains,  reached  Sullivan 
August  3.  Volunteers  poured  in  from  the  neighboring  States  and  on  the  9th 
of  .August,  General  Sullivan,  commanding  10,000  men,  broke  camp  on 
Tiverton  Heights  and  crossed  to  the  north  end  of  Rliode  Island.  At  the 
same  time  the  French  fleet  occupied  the  harbor  and  bay,  having  landed  a 
large  body  of  troops  on  Conanicut,  as  a  reserve  force  for  Sullivan's. 

On  the  evening  of  Augi:st  9,  while  Sullivan  was  moving  his  troops 
to  the  island.  Admiral  Richard  Howe,  in  command  of  thirty-six  war 
vessels,  thirteen  of  which  were  battleships  and  seven  frigates,  hove  in  sight 
off  Point  Judith.  This  unexpected  event  foreshadowed  a  naval  engage- 
ment between  the  British  and  French  fleets.  D'Estaing  was  quick  in 
action,  although  his  act  deranged  the  plan  to  furnish  a  reserve  for  Gen- 
eral Sullivan.  The  4,000  French  troops  on  Conanicut  were  ordered  to 
their  ships,  and,  on  the  morning  of  the  loth,  the  French  admiral  sailed  out 
of  Newport  Harbor  to  meet  the  foe.  August  the  nth  was  spent  by  the 
two  fleets  in  maneuvers  for  the  weather  gage,  and  night  delayed  action. 
During  the  night  a  gale  of  unprecedented  fury  arose  and  continued  for 
two  days  with  cyclonic  force.  Such  a  storm  of  wind  and  rain  broke  all 
records  on  our  New  England  coast.  The  two  fleets  were  scattered  and 
driven  to  ports  of  safety,  while  the  Languedoc,  Admiral  D'Estaing's  flag- 
ship, and  the  Tonnaut  were  dismasted  and  all  of  both  fleets  were  disabled. 
Nothing  was  heard  from  either  squadron  for  several  days,  when,  on  the 
20th,  the  French  fleet  returned  to  Newport  in  a  disabled  condition,  having 
captured,  after  the  storm,  two  British  cruisers  and  repelled  the  attacks  of 
British  battleships  on  the  two  mastless  French  ships.  The  storm  beat  with 
pitiless  fury  upon  the  land  forces.  Tents  were  blown  away,  provisions 
and  ammunition  destroyed  or  damaged,  and  the  whole  army  was  exposed 
to  a  cold  and  drenching  rain.  Some  of  the  troops  died  from  exposure 
and  many  horses  perished.  At  Newport  the  force  of  the  wind  carried  the 
ocean  spray  over  the  town  and  the  windows  were  incrusted  with  salt.  The 
war  of  the  forces  of  wind  and  rain  were  more  destructive  to  both  land 
and  naval  forces  than  a  great  battle  on  land  or  sea. 

General  Pigot,  with  4,000  men,  had  taken  his  position  for  the  battle 
on  the  north  hill  side  of  Newport,  between  Tonomy  Hill  and  Easton's 
Cove,  occupying  a  front  battle  line  of  about  two  miles.  Here  he  awaited 
an  attack  with  stoical  fortitude.  Retreat  was  impossible:  defeat  seemed 
certain.  General  Sullivan  marched  down  the  island  towards  the  British 
forces  and  halted  his  army,  awaiting  the  return  of  the  French  fleet  and 


758  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

troops.  His  advanced  line  of  a  strong  detachment  of  light  troops,  under 
Colonel  Henry  B.  Livingston,  of  New  York,  took  up  a  position  within 
a  mile  and  a  half  of  the  British  lines  and  about  two  and  a  half  miles  from 
Newport  Harbor.  On  the  morning  of  August  15,  Sullivan  advanced  his 
whole  army,  encamping  within  two  miles  of  General  Pigot's  lines,  his  left 
occupying  Honeyman's  Hill,  within  a  half  mile  of  the  enemy's  line  on 
Bliss's  Hill.  Here  the  American  troops  threw  up  entrenchments,  and  for 
five  days  a  heavy  cannonade  was  kept  up  along  the  lines. 

The  right  wing  of  the  army  was  under  the  command  of  Major-Gen- 
eral Nathanael  Greene  on  the  west  road,  the  left  under  General  Lafayette 
on  the  east  road,  the  second  line  of  Massachusetts  militia  was  under  Gen- 
eral John  Hancock,  late  president  of  Congress,  and  the  reserves  under 
Colonel  William  West. 

The  French  fleet  returned  to  New  York  Harbor,  August  20,  in  a  most 
distressed  condition,  shattered  by  the  gale  and  subsequent  engagements, 
the  men  were  exhausted  by  their  rough  sea  experiences  and  absolutely 
disqualified  for  a  land  battle.  Admiral  D'Estaing,  aware  of  the  return 
of  the  British  squadron  and  fearing  naval  reenforcement  from  New  York 
to  strengthen  the  enemy,  decided  to  sail  for  Boston  for  provisions  and 
repairs.  Sullivan  had  sent  Greene  and 'Lafayette  to  induce  the  admiral  to 
remain  at  Newport  and  cooperate  in  the  defeat  of  Pigot's  forces,  but  their 
solicitations  were  unavailing  and  the  French  fleet  sailed  away  to  Boston, 
for  provisions  and  repairs,  leaving  Sullivan  to  whatever  fate  his  unsup- 
ported forces  might  achieve.  The  American  officers  drew  up  a  protest  to 
the  act  of  the  admiral,  which  Lafayette  refused  to  sign. 

Sullivan's  forces  became  greatly  reduced  by  desertions  of  the  militia, 
the  army  was  short  of  provisions  and  the  long  delay  had  produced  a  gen- 
eral dissatisfaction,  which  it  was  difficult  for  the  officers  to  prevent.  The 
army  of  10,000  men  on  the  6th  of  August  had  been  reduced  to  about  5,000. 
A  Council  of  War  was  held  on  the  28th  of  August,  when  it  was  decided 
to  fall  back  to  the  fortified  hills  at  the  north  end  of  the  island  and  wait 
the  return  of  the  French  forces  from  Boston.  Troops  still  continued  to 
leave,  on  the  supposition  that  the  fight  would  be  delayed  for  an  indefinite 
period.  The  New  Hampshire  troops  left  in  a  body,  as  did  many  of  the 
volunteers  and  twenty-day  men  of  Rhode  Island,  Massachusetts  and  Con- 
necticut. On  the  morning  of  August  29,  Sullivan's  army,  on  the  retreat, 
was  encamped  on  Butt's  Hill,  the  right  on  the  west  road,  under  General 
Nathanael  Greene,  with  a  light  corps  under  Colonel  Laurens,  Colonel 
Fleury  and  Major  Talbot  three  miles  to  the  south.  Greene's  right  was 
made  up  of  four  brigades.  Varnum's,  Glover's,  Cornell's  and  his  own, 
while  Colonel  Livingston  held  the  front  of  the  left  wing  on  the  east  road. 
The  British,  elated  by  the  sudden  change  of  conditions,  decided  on  taking 
the  offensive  at  once  and  marching  out  from  Newport  by  the  two  roads, 


7i^yv^<-^ 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCE  759 

made  an  early  attack  on  the  American  troops.  Severe  skirmishes  took 
place  between  the  picket  and  light  troops  of  the  two  armies,  the  Ameri- 
cans withdrawing  upon  the  main  army.  Colonel  Campbell  leading  the 
British  forces  on  the  east  road,  decided  to  divide  his  regiment,  deploying 
one-half  of  it  to  the  left  into  a  crossroad  that  led  towards  the  centre  of  the 
field  of  battle.  An  American  picket  force  lay  concealed  behind  stone 
walls  and  as  the  British  marched  down  the  road  the  Americans  poured  a 
deadly  fire  of  bullets  into  the  columns,  leaving  a  fourth  of  the  men  dead 
by  this  assault.  Two  Hessian  regiments  came  to  their  aid,  but  the  pickets 
had  retired.  General  Glover,  on  the  east  road,  met  the  advancing  right 
wing  of  the  British  in  a  vigorous  attack  and  forced  them  to  retreat  on 
Quaker  Hill,  about  one  mile  south  of  Butt's  Hill.  Between  the  two  armies 
lay  a  section  of  low,  marshy  land,  intersected  by  a  road  and  stone  walls, 
with  wooded  sections  on  the  flanks.  This  valley  amphitheatre  was  the 
real  battlefield  of  the  two  armies,  with  the  superior  numbers  and  fighting 
material  on  the  side  of  the  British.  From  nine  o'clock,  cannonading  across 
the  valley  continued  all  day.  Two  British  ships-of-war,  sailing  up  the  bay, 
opened  fire  on  the  right  wing,  under  Greene,  under  cover  of  which  the 
enemy  made  a  desperate  attempt  to  turn  the  flank  and  capture  an  Ameri- 
can redoubt.  This  action  now  became  general  and  the  conflict  continued 
nearly  all  day.  The  British  and  Hessians  in  their  assaults  on  our  center 
and  right  were  in  every  instance  repulsed  with  fearful  slaughter.  .Sixty 
men  were  found  dead  in  one  spot  and  thirty  Hessians  were  buried  in  one 
grave.  The  dead,  dying  and  wounded  in  the  valley  in  front  of  the  two 
hills  testified  to  the  grim  determination  of  the  enemy  and  the  valor  of  the 
Continentals.  The  negro  troops,  under  Colonel  Christopher  Greene,  per- 
formed deeds  of  desperate  valor  and  proved  a  deadly  foe  to  the  Hessians, 
whom  they  met  and  repulsed  in  bloody  charges.  Ix>veirs  brigade  repulsed 
the  British  right,  the  battleships  were  driven  off  by  our  batteries,  while 
an  onslaught  on  the  right  was  repelled  by  two  Continental  brigades,  who 
saved  the  day.  The  British  at  last  gave  way  and  retreated  to  their  forti- 
fications on  Qiiaker  Hill,  the  cannonading  continuing  until  night  closed 
the  events  of  the  hardest  fought  fight  of  the  Revolution.  General  Sulli- 
van counselled  an  attack  on  Quaker  Hill,  but  the  conditions  of  his  ex- 
hausted troops  and  the  advice  of  his  associate  generals  led  him  to  abandon 
the  purpose.  The  Americans  lost  in  killed,  wounded  and  missing  657, 
and  the  British  i,02>3.  Of  the  5.000  American  troops,  only  about  1,500  had 
ever  been  in  action,  while  the  British  and  Hessians  were  veterans,  dis- 
ciplined in  the  hardships  and  arts  of  warfare. 

The  courage  and  fighting  ability  of  the  American  soldier  was  fully 
tested  and  abundantly  illustrated  in  the  Battle  of  Rhode  Island  and  sup- 
port the  declaration,  credited  to  General  Lafayette,  that  "It  was  the  best 
fought  action  of  the   war."     Major-General   Pigot  closed   his   military 


76o  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

career  with  this  battle  and  in  September  sailed  home,  leaving  General 
Prescott  in  command  at  Newport. 

Congress  voted  thanks  to  General  Sullivan  and  his  army  for  distin- 
guished gallantry  and  wise  conduct  in  retreat,  his  body  guard  received  pro- 
motion and  General  Washington  issued  general  orders  to  the  officers  and 
men  in  thanks  for  their  distinguished  services. 

It  is  not  easy  to  pronounce  judgment  on  the  Battle  of  Rhode  Island, 
for  at  this  remove  it  seems  to  have  been  neither  a  victory  or  a  defeat  for 
either  side — rather  a  drawn  game.  General  Sullivan  relied  on  the  coopera- 
tion of  the  French  land  and  naval  forces,  but  circumstances  beyond  human 
control  prevented  at  the  time  the  forward  movement  was  planned.  The 
unexpected  in  war  is  often  the  determining  factor  of  the  game.  The 
arrival  of  the  British  fleet  was  unexpected  and  unprovided  for.  The 
northeast  gale  was  unexpected,  as  well  as  its  disastrous  results.  The  de- 
parture of  the  French  fleet  for  Boston  and  the  breaking  up  of  Sullivan's 
volunteer  militia  service  were  unexpected,  and  all  these  events  turned 
certain  success  of  the  American  arms  into  a  day's  conflict  issuing  in  the 
actual  retreat  of  both  armies,  with  no  sign  of  victory  on  either  banner. 
There  was  good  reason  for  disheartenment  at  Newport  and  all  over  Rhode 
Island.  John  Brown  wrote  to  General  Greene  that  the  expedition  was 
"the  worst  concerted  and  the  most  disgracefully  executed  of  any  during 
the  war,"  to  which  Greene  replied,  "I  cannot  help  feeling  mortified  that 
those  who  have  been  at  home  making  their  fortune  and  living  in  the  lap 
of  luxury,  and  enjoying  ah  the  pleasure  of  domestic  life,  should  be  the 
first  to  sport  with  the  feelings  of  officrs  who  have  stood  as  a  barrier  be- 
tween them  and  ruin."  The  facts  are  plain  that  the  American  command 
was  able,  that  the  plans  as  laid  were  wise,  the  forces  adequate  to  meet  and 
overwhelm  the  foe,  had  the  battle  taken  place  before  August  the  12th. 
Pigot  was  conscious  of  defeat  and  Sullivan  of  victory  at  that  date.  The 
29th  of  August  relieved  General  Pigot  from  overwhelming  defeat,  and 
left  Sullivan  and  Greene  to  nurse  on  "what  might  have  been."  Let  us 
ascribe  wisdom  to  the  command,  valor  to  the  troops,  honor  to  the  dead, 
and  draw  the  veil  of  charity  over  all.  American  independence  seemed 
lear  in  August,  1778,  at  Rhode  Island.  It  came  October  14,  1781,  when 
Captain  Stephen  Olney,  of  Rhode  Island,  led  the  storming  column  over 
the  British  works  at  Yorktown  and  Cornwallis  delivered  his  sword  to 
Washington.  From  April  2^,  1775,  to  October  14,  1781,  the  State  of 
Rhode  Island  was  a  constant,  prompt,  ardent  participant  in  the  War  for 
American  Independence  on  land  and  sea.  She  gave  all  of  her  able-bodied 
men  to  the  State  and  Continental  service.  The  General  Assembly  was 
vigilant  in  finance  and  complied  with  all  requests  of  Congress  or  of  Gen- 
eral Washington  for  funds,  to  which  the  people  responded  in  hard-earned 
taxation.     The  growing  commerce  of  our  bay  was  cut  off  by  a  British 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCE       761 

embargo  at  Newport.  Newport  itself,  our  chief  town  and  seaport,  was 
made  to  bear  with  and  support  a  British  army  for  three  years,  which,  on 
its  departure,  in  October,  1779,  left  an  island  pillaged,  sacked,  destroyed 
and  our  capital  city  robbed  of  its  wealth,  many  of  its  homes  in  ashes  and 
despoiled  of  all  its  former  excellence,  pride  and  power — a  catastrophe 
from  which  it  never  recovered.  The  State  gave  to  Congress,  Hopkins, 
Ward  and  Ellery ;  to  the  army  and  navy,  Varnum,  Hopkins,  Barton,  Tal- 
bot, the  two  Greenes — Nathanael  and  Christopher,  Whipple  and  Olney, 
while  Arnold,  Cooke,  the  Browns,  Governor  Greene  and  others  were 
counsellors  of  State  to  keep  the  public  affairs  at  home  wisely  adjusted  to 
the  progress  and  demands  of  the  sister  States.  Major-General  Nathanael 
Greene,  in  lineal  descent  from  John  Greene,  a  founder  of  Shawomet,  was 
the  first  to  unsheathe  the  sword  of  freedom  in  1775,  and  Cajitain  Stephen 
Olney,  fifth  from  Thomas,  of  Providence,  drew  the  "first  sword  that 
flashed  in  triumph  above  the  captured  heights  of  Yorktown."  Rhode 
Island  deserved  well  of  the  Repulilic  she  helped  to  make  and  save. 


CHAPTER  XXXV 


ROADS,  POST  ROADS  AND  POST  OFFICES 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 
ROADS,  POST  ROADS  AND  POST  OFFICES. 

A  high  road  or  highway  is  a  path  or  road  slightly  elevated  above 
the  land  on  its  sides.  In  early  Rhode  Island,  before  the  advent  of  horses, 
o.xen,  carts  and  carriages,  the  people  travelled  along  the  trails  made  by 
the  Indians.  These  trails,  now  converted  in  many  instances  into  public 
roads,  are  the  oldest  and  most  permanent  of  the  memorials  left  by  the 
natives.  The  sagacity  and  good  judgment  of  the  Indians  as  road  engi- 
neers are  manifest  in  the  location  of  the  long  and  short  trails.  The  In- 
dian trail  was  made  on  strictly  business  principles — direct  in  its  lines, 
on  hard,  dry  ground,  avoidance  of  wet  lands  and  streams  that  could  not 
be  forded,  around  rather  than  over  the  tops  of  hills,  and  through  old  for- 
ests rather  than  on  open  and  cultivated  lands.  Where  wide  streams  lay 
across  the  trails,  canoes,  logs,  or  swimming,  accomplished  the  crossing, 
the  Indians  being  experts  in  water  navigation.  These  trails  were  so 
well  known  and  well  used  that  an  Indian  runner  could  make  one  hundred 
miles  a  day  with  ease.  The  terminals  of  the  trails  were  not  limited  by 
tribal  lands,  but  served  as  links  to  serve  the  intercourse  and  commerce  of 
adjacent  and  distant  tribes.  For  instance  the  Pequot  Trail,  taking  its  name 
from  a  small  but  active  tribe  in  Southeastern  Connecticut,  is  easily  trace- 
able to  Xew  York,  the  home  of  the  Mohawks,  on  the  West  and  to  the 
East,  through  Rhode  Island,  Massachusetts,  New  Hampshire,  to  Maine, 
the  homeland  of  the  Abenaquis  and  other  Algonquin  tribes.  This  trail 
was  a  trunk  line  between  great  tribes,  from  which  diverged  secondary 
trails  to  settlements  and  rendezvous  of  the  several  collective  tribes. 
These  primary  and  secondary  trails  covered  New  England  with  a  net- 
work of  well-worn  lines  of  travel — the  guides  of  many  of  our  modem 
roads.  As  the  Indians  travelled  in  single  file,  the  trails  were  narrow,  and 
in  the  case  of  the  main  trails,  several  inches  deep — in  no  sense  high- 
ways, but  rather  low-ways.  The  bufTalo  trails  of  the  prairies  are  excellent 
illustrations  of  ancient  Indian  trails,  in  most  respects.  The  chief  villages 
of  the  tribes  were  located  on  the  main  trails.  Narragansett,  the  Indian 
capital  of  the  Narragansett  tribe,  was  located  at  Devil's  Foot,  in  North 
Kingstown,  and  here  was  the  home  of  Canonicus  and  Miantonomi,  chiefs 
of  the  tribe.  This  location  was  on  the  Pequot  Trail  and  Mr.  Williams 
built  his  trading  post  within  sight  of  the  wigwams  of  these  tribal  rulers, 
thereby  constituting  himself  the  purveyor  of  the  royal  household. 

These  Indian  trails  were  the  first  travelled  ways  of  the  English 
settlers  of  Rhode  Island.     It  is  probable  that  from  Providence,  much  of 


766  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

the  travel  was  by  water,  rather  than  by  land,  in  Indian  or  English  made 
canoes.  Mr.  Williams  often  refers  to  his  journeys  by  water  and  it  is 
said  that  on  one  of  his  canoe  voyages,  his  boat  was  upset  and  that  his  life 
was  saved  by  an  expert  Indian  swimmer.  With  the  white  settlers  came 
English  cattle  and  horses  but  both  were  slow  in  coming  to  the  ownership 
of  Rhode  Islanders.  Before  the  introduction  of  post  riders  on  horseback, 
letters,  messages  and  packages  passed  between  the  Rhode  Island  and 
other  colonists  by  trusty  white  or  Indian  messengers,  at  private  expense 
and  arrangement.  The  evolution  of  the  post  rider,  on  horseback,  with 
saddle-bags  or  leather  pouches  attached  firmly  to  the  saddle,  was  the 
slow  process  of  a  slowly  developing  inter-Colonial  life.  The  isolation  of 
the  Rhode  Island  settlers  from  their  neighbors,  east,  north  and  west,  made 
an  extra  delay  in  frequent  or  ofificial  communications  with  neighboring 
peoples,  even  of  a  common  stock  and  hardship. 

The  term  "Post  Roads"  had  its  origin  in  France.  They  were  routes 
selected  over  which  couriers  or  letter-carriers  traveled,  having  horses 
posted  at  regular  places  for  their  use  and  were  instituted  for  carrying 
court  or  government  messages.  Such  routes  were  established  by  Louis 
XL,  June  19,  1464.  As  early  as  1548  post  routes  and  post-carriers  were 
introduced  in  England  for  the  same  ends  as  in  France.  The  English  pub- 
lic received  the  benefits  of  post  roads  and  carriers  by  an  act  of  Parliament 
about  1672,  although  in  Elizabeth's  reign,  1581,  the  office  of  Chief  Post- 
master of  England  is  mentioned,  and  under  James  I.  the  office  of  Post- 
master for  Foreign  Parts  was  created. 

Letter-writing  was  a  fine  art  in  the  New  England  colonies  and  few 
were  written.  There  were  no  newspapers  or  periodicals.  Letters  were 
carried  to  and  fro  by  friends  or  travellers.  Masters  of  vessels  were 
accustomed  to  receive  letters  and  packages  and  deliver  them  to  such  per- 
sons as  would  assist  in  their  delivery  without  pay.  On  the  arrival  of  a 
vessel  in  port,  people  would  visit  the  captain  for  letters  from  friends.  In 
1639  the  Colonial  government  made  the  house  of  Richard  Fairbanks,  Corn- 
hills,  in  Boston,  the  repository  of  New  England  letters,  he  to  send  them 
elsewhere  as  directed.  In  1677  John  Haywood  was  appointed  to  receive 
and  send  letters  to  their  destination,  for  which  labor  he  received  one  penny 
for  each  letter — two  cents.  In  1674  the  government  of  Rhode  Island  was 
invited  to  join  Massachusetts  in  a  war  against  New  France  (Canada)  and 
the  establishment  of  a  post  office  between  Boston  and  Rhode  Island  for 
speedy  intelligence.  On  February  17,  1691-92,  the  English  Crown  au- 
thorized Thomas  Neale  to  establish  post  routes  and  post  offices  in  the 
American  Colonies  and  on  April  4,  1692,  Andrew  Hamilton  was  chosen  to 
receive  and  dispatch  letters  and  packages  at  such  rates  as  the  people 
should  agree  to  pay.  Boston  was  chosen  as  the  first  town  for  the  receipt 
and  dispatch  of  post  matter.     Rates  of  local  postage  were  as   follows: 


ROADS,  POST  ROADS  AND  POST  OFFICES  767 

Each  single  letter  from  across  the  ocean,  one  shilling,  two  pence;  each 
packet  of  letters,  one  shilling,  four  pence.  Inland  mail:  From  Rhode 
Island  to  Boston,  single  letters  each  a  six  pence ;  from  Connecticut  to  Bos- 
ton, a  single  letter  nine  pence ;  from  New  York  to  Boston,  each  letter 
twelve  pence.  Two  pence  was  allowed  for  house  delivery  of  letters  that 
had  remained  in  the  post  office  two  days.  All  public  letters  went  free  of 
postage.  The  post  was  to  pass  all  ferries  free.  The  post  passed  from 
Boston  to  New  York  once  a  week.  The  postmaster  provided  men  and 
horses  with  necessary  equipment  to  ride  and  deliver  mail  matters.  All 
letters  were  paid  on  delivery  by  the  post-rider. 

The  route  of  the  earliest  official  post-riders  between  Boston  and  Newr 
York  is  not  recorded,  but  it  was  probably  from  Boston  to  Providence  and 
thence  by  the  Pequot  Trail  to  Westerly,  New  Haven  and  New  Haven 
and  New  York.  This  was  known  as  the  "Lower  Road"  or  "King's  High- 
way" and  was  the  oldest  "Post  Road"  to  New  York,  having  been  in  use 
as  a  post  road  as  early  as  1737.  Tlie  "Upper  Road,"  from  Boston  to  New 
Haven  by  way  of  Springfield,  had  been  in  use  in  1755,  but  was  not  adver- 
tised as  a  post  road  until  1764.  The  "Middle  Road,"  from  Boston  to 
Hartford  by  way  of  Pomfret,  was  in  use  as  early  as  1758.  The  "Lower 
Road"  was  the  first  and  only  "Post  Road"  from  Boston  to  New  York  by 
way  of  Providence  prior  to  1764.  The  distance,  as  laid  down  in  Jacob 
Taylor's  Almanac  for  1737,  was  two  hundred  and  seventy-eight  miles. 
The  earliest  itinerary  of  this  hi.storic  trail  and  later  post  road  was  as  fol- 
lows under  date  of  1697:  "From  New  York  to  Boston  it  is  accounted 
274  miles,  viz. :  From  the  post  office  in  New  York  to  Jo.  Oapp's  in  the 
Bowery,  is  2  mile  (which  generally  is  the  baiting  place,  where  gentlemen 
take  leave  of  their  friends  going  so  long  a  journey),  and  where  a  parting 
glass  or  two  of  generous  wine 

.  'If  well  applied,  make  their  dull  horses  feci 
One  spurr  i'  the  head  is  worth  two  in  the  heel.' 

"From  saidClapp's  (his  tavern  was  near  the  corner  of  Bayard  Street), 
to  half-way  house,  7  miles;  thence  to  King's  bridge,  9;  to  old  Skute's,  at 
East  Chester,  6 ;  to  New  Rochel  Meeting  House,  4 ;  to  Joseph  Norton's,  4 ; 
to  Denham's,  at  Rye,  4;  to  Knap's,  at  Horse-neck,  7;  to  Belben's  (Bel- 
dens?)  at  Norwalk,  10:  to  Burr's,  at  Fairfield,  10;  to  T.  Knowles',  at 
Stratford,  9;  to  Andrew  Sanford's,  at  Milford,  4;  to  Capt.  John  Mills', 
at  New  Haven,  10;  to  the  Widow  Frisbie's,  at  Branford,  10;  to  John  Hud- 
son's, at  Guilford,  22;  to  John  Grissit's,  at  Killinsworth,  10:  to  John 
Qarke's,  at  Saybrook,  10;  to  Mr.  Plum's,  at  New  London,  18;  to  Mr. 
Sexton's,  15 ;  to  Mr.  Pemberton's,  in  the  Narragansett  Country.  15 ;  to  the 
Frenchtown  (near  Roger  Williams'  trading  house),  Narragansett,  24;  to 
Mr.  Turpin's  (Providence),  20;  to  Mr.  Woodcock's  (Woodcock's  Garri 


768  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

son  House,  Attleboro),  15;  to  Mr.  Billing's  Farm,  11 ;  to  Mr.  White's,  6; 
to  Mr.  Fisher's,  6;  and  from  thence  to  the  great  town  of  Boston,  10,  where 
many  good  lodgings  and  accommodations  may  be  had  for  love  and  money." 

Thus  the  Pequot  Trail  from  Boston  to  New  York  was  the  pioneer 
post  route  between  the  two  Colonial  towns  as  early  as  1737.  It  is  of  inter- 
est to  note  that  the  taverns  on  the  route  are  located,  and  the  keepers,  who 
furnished  victuals,  drinks  and  lodgings,  are  named^a  fact  quite  as  inter- 
esting to  the  traveller  as  the  sparsely  settled  towns  and  villages  through 
which  he  passed. 

In  1753  Benjamin  Franklin,  of  Philadelphia,  received  the  appoint- 
ment of  deputy  postmaster  for  the  American  Colonies.  Franklin  had 
been  postmaster  of  Pennsylvania  for  ten  years  and  that  experience  added 
to  his  remarkable  abilities  made  him  the  superior  of  his  countrymen  for 
the  Colonial  office.  During  the  first  official  year,  Franklin  made  a  tour  of 
the  Colonies  for  inspecting  and  establishing  mail  routes,  and  it  is  said 
that  he  visited  every  office,  except  the  one  at  Charleston,  South  Carolina. 
Five  months  were  spent  on  the  trip,  riding  in  a  chaise  with  a  registering 
wheel  attached,  noting  the  distance  traveled  and  setting  mile  posts  along 
the  route  from  Boston  to  New  York  along  the  "Pequot  Trail"  and  thence 
south  on  the  "King's  Highway." 

The  first  travelled  ways  in  Rhode  Island  were  the  well-worn  Indian 
trails,  which  were  traversed  on  foot  and  on  horseback.  The  first  highways 
were  laid  out  by  individuals  on  their  estates  and  by  the  towns  connecting 
several  estates  for  public  uses.  In  the  fencing  of  farms,  gates  and  bars 
were  often  met  as  obstructions  to  rapid  travel,  each  landowner  claiming 
the  right  to  enclose  his  own  property,  each  owner  "to  keepe  sufficient 
inlett  with  gates  or  barres  convenient  for  cartes  to  passe  through."  The 
probate  records  of  Providence  of  1700  show  that  horse  carts  and  wheel 
vehicles,  also  saddles  with  pillions,  were  owned  by  the  wealthy,  but  all 
were  of  little  service  for  journeys  over  the  bridle-ways  of  that  period. 
Bridle-paths  were  made  as  the  convenience  of  individual  owners  of  the 
lands  dictated.  In  1686  Governor  Sanford  reported  to  the  Ehglish  govern- 
ment that  there  were  "a  few  horses  in  the  Colony."  Travellers  and  bag- 
gage were  carried  across  rivers,  on  ferry  boats  of  private  owners,  for  a 
certified  price  or  toll.  Madam  Sarah  Kemble  Knight,  of  Boston,  in  her 
diary,  gives  a  lively  description  of  a  journey  to  New  York,  on  horseback 
and  alone,  in  1704.  The  passage  across  Rhode  Island,  and  her  experiences 
at  Haven's  tavern,  at  Narragansett,  are  thrilling  and  her  poem  to  "O 
Potent  Rum"  has  flavor  of  "Chocolett."  In  1713  "it  was  ordered  that  the 
Great  Highway  between  Pawtucket  and  Pawcatuck  should  be  repaired 
and  a  new  one  opened  from  Providence  to  Plainfield,  Conn.,  through 
Warwick  and  West  Greenwich."  In  Barrington,  the  Sowams  proprietors 
laid  out  a  township  system  of  highways,  two,  four  and  eight  rods  wide. 


ROADS,  rOST  ROADS  AND  POST  OFFICES  7^ 

Portions  of  three  of  the  eight-rod  highways  retain  their  original  width. 
Gates  and  bars  obstructed  many  of  the  old  highways  until  the  middle  of 
the  nineteenth  century.  Turnpike  roads  were  built  to  improve  the  con- 
ditions of  public  travel.  As  the  co.st  of  construction  was  more  than  that 
of  an  ordinary  road,  toll  was  paid  at  toll  houses  located  at  intersecting 
points,  and  tollkeepers  collected  from  drivers  or  owners  of  carriages, 
horses  or  cattle  passing  through  toll  gates.  Turnpikes,  ferries  and  bridges 
in  Rhode  Island  were  made  free  from  the  payment  of  toll  about  1870. 

The  first  bridge  in  Rhode  Island  was  built  over  the  Moshassuck  river, 
above  the  falls  and  grist  mill,  about  1662. 

January  27,  1667,  in  town  meeting,  it  was  ordered  "that  Mr.  Roger 
Williams  shall  receive  toll  of  all  strangers  which  shall  hereafter  pass  over 
the  bridge  at  Wapwaysett.  also  that  of  all  inhabitants  of  the  Town  he  shall 
receive  what  each  person  is  freely  willing  to  contribute  towards  the  sup- 
porting of  the  aforesaid  bridge."  The  bridge  at  Weybosset  was  built  by  a 
later  generation  and  its  support  with  the  bridges  over  the  Pawtucket  and 
Pawtuxet  were  kept  in  safe  conditions  by  the  Colonies  of  Massachusetts, 
Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut,  as  they  were  parts  of  the  New  England 
post  route  to  New  York.  It  is  of  interest  to  note  that  the  first  legalized 
lottery  in  Rhode  Island  was  a  scheme  for  fifteen  thousand  pounds  for 
building  or  rather  rebuilding  Weybosset  bridges  in  Providence.  Samuel 
Chace,  the  first  postmaster  of  Providence,  was  appointed  clerk  to  draw 
the  lottery  in  1744.  The  second  lottery  was  granted  in  February,  1747-48 
for  paving  the  streets  of  Newport,  and  at  the  same  session  a  new  ferry 
was  established  between  South  Kingstown  and  Jamestown,  to  take  the 
place  of  one  established  in  1707.  Prior  to  this  streets  had  been  paved  and 
bridges  built  from  the  proceeds  of  duties  on  imported  slaves. 

The  opening,  straightening  and  making  of  public  highways  in  the 
town  was  vexatiously  slow  and  the  construction  was  unscientific  and 
wasteful  of  time,  labor  and  money.  Dirt  roads,  made  of  the  loose  dirt  of 
the  locality,  were  the  rule,  unfit  for  travel  except  in  the  dry  periods  of 
the  year.  Macadam,  the  English  road  engineer,  died  in  1836,  leaving  to 
his  generation  in  England  some  improved  highways,  but  the  American 
people  were  in  no  mood  to  adopt  English  improvements  of  any  sort.  The 
cities  and  large  towns,  by  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  had  estab- 
lished grades,  made  sidewalks  and  constructed  gravel  roadbeds  with  paved 
surfaces.  From  1850  to  1900  the  country  towns,  near  and  remote,  adopted 
more  intelligent  plans  of  road-building,  chose  more  competent  surveyors 
of  highways  and  made  great  advances  in  the  line  of  stable  road  stnicture. 
The  economic  argument  began  to  enter  into  the  minds  of  the  taxpayers 
as  rutty,  muddy  thoroughfares  came  to  be  considered  hindrances  to  busi- 
ness and  population  as  well  as  to  easy  locomotion. 

RI— 49 


770  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

Franklin  was  postmaster  of  the  American  Colonies  from  1753  to 
1774,  when  he  was  dismissed  by  the  English  government  on  account  of  his 
active  sympathies  with  the  Colonies  in  their  struggle  for  independence. 
The  Colonies,  however,  immediately  established  their  own  postal  system 
and  on  July  26,  1775,  Benjamin  Franklin  was  elevated  to  the  position  of 
Postmaster-General  by  the  Continental  Congress.  Our  postal  system  of 
the  United  States  began  its  existence  under  the  wise  and  patriotic  admin- 
istration of  Benjamin  Franklin,  its  first  organizer.  In  1754  James  Frank- 
lin, brother  of  Benjamin,  was  made  postmaster  at  Boston,  with  the  post 
office  in  his  house  on  Cornhill.  The  first  postmaster  in  Providence  was 
Samuel  Qiace,  holding  the  office  ten  years  from  1754  till  1764.  The 
system  of  transporting  mail  matter  and  passengers  by  public  stage  lines 
running  regularly  on  schedule  time  was  inaugurated  in  the  Colonies  by 
Captain  Levi  Pease  in  1783.  As  Boston,  Providence  and  Newport  were 
three  of  the  largest  towns  in  New  England,  Newport  being  larger  than 
Providence,  stage  routes  were  established  between  them  soon  after  the 
introduction  of  the  new  plan  of  travel. 

In  June,  1/75,  post  routes  and  riders  and  post  offices  were  established 
by  the  General  Assembly  in  Newport,  Providence,  Bristol,  Warren,  Tower 
Hill,  South  Kingstown  and  Westerly,  and  a  committee  was  appointed, 
consisting  of  Nathaniel  Otis,  of  Newport;  John  Carter,  of  Providence; 
Jonathan  Russell,  of  Bristol ;  Shubael  Burr,  of  Warren ;  Ray  Sands,  of 
Tower  Hill,  and  Dr.  Joshua  Babcock,  of  Westerly,  as  postmasters.  Peter 
Mumford  was  chosen  as  post  rider  from  Newport  to  Providence  and 
Benjamin  Mumford  from  Newport  to  New  London,  Connecticut.  Messrs. 
Joshua  P.abcock,  John  Jenckes,  William  Bradford  and  Joseph  Anthony 
were  made  a  committee  to  agree  with  postmasters  and  post  riders  as  to 
their  services  and  pay  and  all  accounting  of  postmasters  was  to  be  made 
to  the  committee.  All  letters  sent  to  or  coming  from  the  town  of  Boston 
were  to  be  postpaid  and  submitted  by  the  post-rider  to  the  examination  of 
the  commander-in-chief  of  the  American  forces  at  Cambridge  or  to  a 
committee  chosen  by  the  Provincial  Congress  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay. 

The  rates  of  postage  in  Rhode  Island  were  fixed  by  the  General 
Assembly  in  1775  and  were  as  follows:  For  any  distance  not  exceeding 
60  miles,  534  pence;  60  miles,  not  exceeding  100,  8  pence;  100  miles  to 
200  miles,  io)4  pence;  200  miles  to  30x3  miles,  1  shilling;  300  miles  to 
400  miles,  I  shilling,  4  pence ;  400  miles  to  500  miles,  i  shilling,  654  pence; 
500  miles  to  600  miles,  i  shilling,  9  pence ;  600  miles  to  700  miles,  2  shil- 
lings; 700  miles  to  800  miles,  2  shillings,  23/2  pence;  800  miles  to  900 
miles,  2  shillings,  5  pence;  900  miles  to  1,000  miles,  2  shillings,  8  pence. 
These  rates  for  single  letters  were  doubled  and  trebled  for  double  and 
treble  letters  and  for  every  ounce  weight  the  postage  was  four  times  a 
single  letter.     In  this  plan  for  maintaining  an  intercourse  between  the 


ROADS,  POST  ROADS  AND  POST  OFFICES  771 

Colonies  and  their  peoples,  each  Colony  paid  the  expenses  of  the  post-rider, 
upon  the  usual  post  road.  On  recommendation  of  the  Continental  Con- 
gress, May  12,  1777,  the  General  Assembly  voted  to  exempt  postmasters, 
post-riders  and  all  persons  immediately  concerned  in  post  office  duties 
from  all  military  duties. 

In  August,  1775,  John  Lascll  as  post-rider  carried  a  mail  from  Provi- 
dence to  New  London,  Connecticut,  leaving  Providence  on  every  Tuesday 
afternoon  to  return  as  soon  as  possible.  I  lis  pay  was  $85  a  year.  On  the 
establishment  of  the  Continental  system,  local  management  was  trans- 
ferred to  Colonial.  William  Goddard,  of  Providence,  the  second  postmas- 
ter of  the  town,  from  1764  to  17^19,  proposed  the  formation  of  a  joint 
stock  corporation  to  establish  and  maintain  post  offices  under  a  postmaster- 
general,  chosen  by  the  corporate  body.  This  plan,  though  ardently  advo- 
cated, did  not  meet  with  popular  favor.  On  the  adoption  of  the  Federal 
Constitution,  in  1789,  the  Federal  Congress  took  exclusive  control  of 
postal  matters  for  all  the  States,  established  general  rates  of  postage  and 
passed  laws  regulating  the  post  office  department  of  the  government.  In 
i8cx3  the  postal  rates  at  all  Rhode  Island  post  offices  were  for  single  letters, 
a  single  sheet  of  paper,  not  over  40  miles,  eight  cents;  not  over  90,  ten 
cents;  not  over  150,  twelve  and  one-half  cents;  not  over  300,  seventeen 
cents ;  not  over  500,  twenty  cents ;  over  500,  twenty-five  cents ;  double 
triple  and  quadruple  rates  for  two,  three  and  four  sheets  of  paper.  The 
letter  envelope  was  not  then  in  use. 

The  first  postmaster  of  Providence  was  Samuel  Chace.  Little  is 
known  of  him,  except  that  he  was  appointed  by  Franklin  and  served  from 
1754  to  1764.  presumably  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  people.  The  Colonial 
records  state  that  Chace  was  made  a  freeman  of  Providence  in  1745,  and 
the  year  before  was  clerk  of  the  managers  to  draw  the  first  lottery  of  the 
Colony  for  raising  money  to  build  Weybasset  bridge  at  Providence.  Wil- 
liam Goddard  followed  Mr.  Chace  as  postmaster  of  Providence,  from 
1764  to  1769.  Mr.  Goddard,  the  ancestor  of  the  Goddards  of  Providence, 
was  born  in  New  London,  Connecticut,  in  1740;  removed  to  Providence; 
established  and  edited  the  Prm^dence  Gazette  and  Country  Journal  in 
1762.  the  first  newspaper  in  the  town ;  served  as  postmaster  under  Frank- 
lin and  was  chosen  by  him  as  surveyor  of  the  post  roads  and  comptroller 
of  post  offices  for  all  the  Colonies.  John  Cole,  the  third  postmaster  of 
Providence,  was  a  lawyer,  born  in  South  Kingstown ;  was  chief  justice 
of  the  Colony  one  year,  1764-65;  a  deputy  in  the  General  Assembly  and 
Speaker  of  the  House  in  1765.  Mr.  Cole  was  a  devoted  patriot  and  a 
faithful  administrator  of  public  trusts. 

John  Carter  was  the  fourth  postmaster  of  Providence,  serving  the 
town  from  1772  to  1790.  Of  Philadelphia  birth,  he  served  as  an  appren- 
tice in  Franklin's  printing  office,  came  to  Providence,  became  a  business 


772  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

partner  of  Mrs.  Sarah  Updike  Goddard,  under  the  firm  title  of  Sarah 
Goddard  &  Company,  bought  and  edited  the  Gazette  in  1768  at  the  age  of 
twenty-three  and  continued  to  manage  and  edit  the  paper  until  his  death, 
in  1814.  John  Carter  Brown  was  the  son  of  his  daughter,  Ann  Carter, 
who  married  Nicholas  Brown.  John  Carter's  printing  office  and  prob- 
ably the  Providence  post  office  was  at  Shakespeare's  Head,  Meeting  street. 
The  house  is  still  standing,  opposite  the  old  school  house. 

William  Wilkinson  graduated  from  Brown  University  in  1783,  became 
principal  of  the  University  Grammar  School  and  librarian  of  the  college; 
was  appointed  postmaster  of  Providence  by  President  Washington,  serv- 
ing from  1790  to  1802;  opened  a  book  store  and  printing  office  at  the 
corner  of  Market  Square  and  Canal  street  in  connection  with  John  Car- 
ter, editor  of  the  Providence  Gazette,  continuing  in  book  publishing  and 
selling  until  1817.  Mr.  Wilkinson  died  in  1852  at  the  age  of  ninety-two, 
closing  in  full  mental  vigor  a  life  of  great  devotion  to  the  town  and  the 
college. 

Benjamin  West,  born  in  Rehoboth,  Massachusetts,  was  a  scholar,  a 
professor  in  the  university,  an  eminent  astronomer,  a  mathematician  and  a 
publicist.  He  was  the  appointee  of  Thomas  Jefferson  and  was  the  able 
and  efficient  postmaster  of  Providence  from  1802  to  1813.  when,  at  his 
death,  he  was  succeeded  by  his  son-in-law,  Gabriel  Allen,  who  held  the 
office  until  his  own  death  in  1824. 

Bennett  H.  Wheeler  was  the  eighth  postmaster  of  Providence,  serv- 
ing from  1&24  until  the  accession  of  President  Jackson,  in  1832,  who 
removed  him  to  make  room  for  a  Jackson  Democrat,  in  the  person  of  E. 
J.  Mallett,  of  Huguenot  stock  and  a  North  Carolinian  by  birth.  Visiting 
Providence,  he  married  the  daughter  of  Governor  James  Fenner,  in  1820, 
and  engaged  in  shipping  business  here  until  1829,  when  he  became  assist- 
ant editor  of  the  Herald,  a  Jacksonian  Democratic  paper,  and  for  faith- 
ful services  was  appointed  postmaster  of  Providence,  holding  the  office 
from  1832  to  1844.  While  in  Providence  he  erected  the  brick  block,  Nos. 
16,  18,  20  and  22  South  Main  street  and  the  court  house  in  the  rear,  the 
first  in  the  State.  These  buildings  were  used  by  the  State  and  the  United 
States  until  the  erection  of  the  post  office  building  on  Weybasset  street 
and  the  court  house  on  Benefit  street.  Removing  to  New  York  in  1847 
Mr.  Mallet  was  elected  president  of  the  St.  Nicholas  Bank,  and  in  1858 
was  sent  as  Consul-General  to  Italy.  In  the  Civil  War,  he  was  a  strong 
ITnion  man  and  appointed  a  paymaster  by  President  Lincoln. 

Welcome  B.  Sayles  was  the  tenth  and  twelfth  postmaster  of  Provi- 
dence from  1844  to  1848,  and  again  from  1853  to  1857.  Mr.  Sayles  was  a 
most  efficient  public  officer  and  an  ardent  patriot,  popular  with  men  of  all 
parties.  Slain  while  leading  his  regiment  in  action  in  the  Civil  War,  he 
died  in  defence  of  the  Union  and  the  Constitution,  which  he  had  so  ably  de- 


ROADS,  POST  ROADS  AND  POST  OFFICES  773 

fended  by  tongue  and  pen.  His  successors  in  the  Providence  office  have 
been  Henry  L.  Bowen,  1848-1853;  Albert  S.  Gallup,  1857-1861 ;  Walter 
C.  Simmons,  1861-1865;  Ephraim  S.  Jackson,  1866-1874;  Charles  R. 
Brayton,  1874-1879;  Henry  W.  Gardner,  1879-1886;  Charles  H.  George, 
1886-1895;  Richard  Hayward,  1 895-1 901 ;  Clinton  D.  Sellen,  1901-1909; 
Walter  A.  Kilton,  1909-1918,  and  Edward  F.  Carroll,  1918 .  The  por- 
traits of  all  the  Providence  postmasters,  except  John  Cole,  are  preserved 
in  the  postmaster's  office,  Federal  Building,  Providence. 

The  stage  coach  was  an  early  invention,  as  early  as  the  twelfth  cen- 
tur)-.  An  old  ballad  credits  Queen  Eleanor,  wife  of  Louis  VH.  of  France, 
and  of  Henry  the  Second  of  England,  with  its  introduction: 

"She  was  the  first  that  did  invent 
In  coaches  brave  to  ride." 

There  were  six  stage  coaches  in  England  in  1672,  it  is  said,  against 
which  one  Cresset  felt  moved  to  publish  a  pamphlet,  as  they  encouraged 
too  much  travel.  Boston  had  its  first  coach  in  1669.  In  1680  "one  horse 
cart  and  wheels,  with  other  horse  tacklings"  was  inventoried  at  £2,  15s. 
at  Providence. 

The  coach  was  first  confined  to  the  carriage  of  royalty,  but  later 
Yankee  adaptation  turned  a  private  benefit  to  a  public  utility,  in  convey- 
ing passengers,  mails,  baggage  and  express  from  place  to  place.  As  early 
as  173A,  at  the  October  session  of  the  General  Assembly,  Alexander 
Thorp  and  Isaac  Cushno  petitioned  for  the  exclusive  right  to  run  a  stage 
coach  to  Massachusetts  from  Rhode  Island.  The  record  does  not  state  the 
precise  points  between  which  it  was  to  run,  but  it  is  certain  that  Provi- 
dence, Newport  and  Boston  must  have  been  the  terminals,  and  possibly 
New  York.  It  was  a  great  undertaking  for  that  day,  and  its  prosecution 
called  for  an  unusual  amount  of  enterprise,  courage  and  faith  and  some 
capital.  The  right  was  granted  to  these  gentlemen  for  a  period  of  seven 
years  and  Samuel  Vernon,  William  Coddington  and  Joseph  Whipple  were 
the  committee  to  make  the  contract  binding  with  a  bond,  as  the  petitioners 
were  a  livery  stable  keeper  and  a  saddler  of  Boston.  Staples  says,  "Prob- 
ably this  stage,  if  it  ever  run,  went  from  Newport  to  Boston." 

The  curricle,  a  two-wheel  chaise,  drawn  by  two  horses,  was  in  use  in 
Providence  as  early  as  1770.  Samuel  Thurber  relates  that  in  his  boyhood 
(born  1761)  he  saw  a  curricle  owned  by  Colonel  William  Brown,  and  that 
it  was  sometimes  used  to  carry  people  to  Boston,  as  "now  and  then"  a  per- 
son wanted  to  go.  "It  would  take  him  about  three  days  to  go  and  return. 
After  awhile  Thomas  Sabin,  I  think,  was  the  first  that  set  up  a  stage ;  he 
generally  went  once  a  week.  After  him,  Robert  Curry  and  Samuel  Whip- 
ple ;  when  they  got  through  by  daylight,  they  thought  to  have  done  well. 
*  *  *  May,  1776,  I  went  to  Pomfret,  thirty-six  miles,  in  a  chaise;  the 


774  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

road  was  so  rough  and  stony  that  I  could  not  ride  out  of  a  slow  walk  but 
very  little  of  the  way ;  I  was  near  two  days  in  going,  such  was  the  general 
condition  of  our  roads." 

The  stage  coach  of  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  was  a  four- 
wheeled  carriage,  in  weight  from  twelve  to  fifteen  hundred  pounds, 
strongly  built  and  drawn  by  four  or  six  horses  of  about  1,200  pounds 
each.  In  July,  1767,  we  find  the  first  advertisement,  in  the  Gazette,  of  a 
regular  stage  coach  running  between  Providence  and  Boston.  Thomas 
Sabin  announced  that  "one  starts  every  Tuesday  morning  from  the  house 
of  Richard  Olney,  inn-holder,  to  carry  travellers  to  Boston,  on  the  most 
e.xpeditious  and  cheap  rate."  On  its  return,  the  coach  left  Boston  on 
Thursday  mornings,  reaching  the  Olney  tavern  late  in  the  evening.  This 
tavern  stood  on  the  west  side  of  North  Main  street,  in  front  of  the  Old 
State  House,  now  the  Sixth  District  Court  House.  Tradition  tells  us  that 
in  the  earlier  days  of  stage  coaches  to  Boston,  a  stop  was  made  at  Wren- 
tham  for  the  night,  going  and  returning.  The  stage  owner  at  first  gave 
notice  a  week  or  two  beforehand  of  the  intended  trip  to  Boston,  that 
passengers  might  prepare  for  so  important  a  journey  and,  if  need  be, 
execute  their  wills,  in  case  any  ill-fortune  should  befall  them.  Not  many 
people  cared  to  make  the  long  and  somewhat  venturesome  trip.  It  was  a 
real  wonder  to  see  a  man  who  had  visited  New  York  or  Philadelphia. 
As  business,  acquaintance  and  people  multiplied,  travel  increased,  and  in 
due  time  stage  coaches  made  daily  trips  to  and  from  Newport  and  Boston 
by  way  of  Providence.  A  passenger,  leaving  Newport  or  Boston  on  Mon- 
day morning,  would  reach  his  destination  at  the  other  town  on  Tuesday 
afternoon  or  evening,  at  an  expense  of  three  dollars  for  stage  and  an  equal 
sum  for  lodging  and  meals  at  taverns  on  the  seventy  mile  journey,  at  Ded- 
ham,  Wrentham,  Attleboro,  Providence,  Warren  or  Bristol.  The  coaches 
could  carry  twelve  passengers  on  the  inside  and,  when  crowded,  as  many 
more  outside,  with  a  stack  of  baggage  strapped  on  the  back  or  loose  on 
the  top.  Express  business  was  also  carried  on  by  stage  owners.  A  letter 
delivered  by  post  at  Boston  or  Newport,  on  the  second  day,  cost  the  sender 
or  receiver  twenty-five  cents.  For  some  years  prior  to  1792,  the  stage 
route  from  Newport  to  Boston  passed  through  Portsmouth,  crossed  Bris- 
tol Ferry,  through  Bristol,  Warren,  Swansea,  Barneysville.  Rehoboth, 
Providence,  Pawtucket,  Attleboro,  Wrentham  and  Dedham.  Relays  of 
horses  were  made  at  Bristol,  Providence  and  Wrentham.  In  1792  John 
Kelley,  of  Barrington  established  a  rope  cable  ferriage  across  the  river 
between  Warren  and  Barrington,  and  thereafter  the  Newport  coaches 
crossed  from'  Warren  to  New  Meadow  Neck,  now  Hampden  Meadows,  by 
Monroe's  Tavern,  through  Rehoboth  to  Providence,  crossing  the  Seekonk 
River,  at  Fuller's  Ferry,  now  Tockwotton  bridge,  into  Providence.  About 
1810  the  route  was  again  changed  from  Warren  to  Providence,  passing 


ROADS,  POST  ROADS  AND  POST  OFFICES  775 

through  Barrington  Centre,  entering  Seekonk  at  Wannamoisett,  and  fol- 
lowing what  is  now  Pawtiicket  avenue,  on  the  east  shore  of  Providence 
river,  crossing  the  Seekonk  river  into  Providence  by  Washington  bridge. 
Taverns  were  essential  accompaniments  of  stage  coaches,  feeding  and 
lodging  stage  coach  and  general  travel  on  main  highways  of  travel.  Post 
offices  were  in  many  instances  located  in  taverns,  where  the  people  were 
accustomed  to  congregate  evenings  or  on  the  arrival  of  the  mail  coaches. 

On  the  establishment  of  a  line  of  steamboats  between  Providence  and 
New  York,  post-riders  and  stage  coaches  gave  way  between  these  points 
and  the  stage  coach  business  between  Boston  and  Providence  assumed 
gigantic  size  and  great  utility.  The  popular  route  between  Boston  and 
New  York  was  by  way  of  the  "Citizens'  Line,"  with  Providence  head- 
quarters and  steamer  depot  at  India  Point.  Three  hundred  horses  and  a 
large  number  of  coaches  were  in  constant  use  in  operating  line,  the  Boston 
coaches  landing  their  passengers  in  a  commodious  station  at  Providence. 
One  hundred  Boston  travellers  were  often  booked  in  one  day.  The  stages 
left  Boston,  with  passengers,  mail  and  baggage  at  5  a.  m.,  stopping  at  Gay's 
Tavern  at  Dedham  for  breakfast.  Frequently  ten  or  twelve  coaches  were 
in  line,  bound  for  India  Point,  where  they  were  due  at  11:30  a.  m..  the 
steamer  leaving  at  12  m.  The  route  from  Milk  street,  Boston,  lay  along 
what  is  now  known  as  Washington  street  to  Pawtucket,  through  Rox- 
bury,  Dedham,  Walpole,  Wrentham  and  Attleboro.  Post-riders  usually 
made  the  trip  between  the  two  towns  in  six  or  seven  hours.  President 
Jackson's  message  of  1830  was  delivered  in  Boston  by  post-riders  in  two 
hours  and  forty-five  minutes.  The  message,  brought  to  Providence  by 
the  New  York  steamer,  was  lashed  around  a  whip  handle,  which  as  the 
boat  reached  the  wharf,  was  thrown  to  a  mounted  rider,  who  rode  with 
all  possible  speed,  passing  it  on  from  one  fleet  courier  to  another,  each 
receiving  it  riding  at  full  speed. 

In  1834,  the  Boston  &  Providence  railroad  was  opened  to  travel  and 
post  roads,  post  routes,  post-riders  and  Boston  and  Providence  coaches 
vanished  from  reality  into  history.  To  the  railroad  has  been  added  the 
telegraph,  the  telephone  and  the  automobile,  all  of  which  are  accessories 
to  rapid  transit  in  travel  and  in  communication.  The  European  war  has 
aided  mightily  in  the  new  science  of  aviation  as  a  practical  and  rapid  mode 
of  transportation  of  men,  material  and  postal  matter,  so  that  we  are  war- 
ranted in  believing  that  aeroplanes  will  carry  passengers,  mails  and  all 
forms  of  express  from  city  to  city  and  nation  to  nation,  as  swiftly  and  as 
safely  as  the  flight  of  the  swiftest  birds,  within  a  decade  of  this  writing. 
Already  the  signs  of  such  a  mighty  revolution  may  be  seen,  over  all  lands 
and  seas  and  in  the  heavens  over  us.  With  the  coming  in  of  the  "Fast 
Age,"  we  may  expect  to  see  land  travel  by  auto-carriages,  over  State, 
national  and  international  highways,  with  surfaces  of  smooth  asphalt, 


•j-je  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

cement  or  stone,  safeguarded,  at  a  speed  of  from  fifty  to  a  hundred  miles 
an  hour  for  ordinary  travel  and  from  one  hundred  to  two  hundred  miles 
an  hour  in  extremities.  That  day  will  usher  in  the  new  American  high- 
way, founded  on  the  bed  of  the  old  New  England  Indian  trail,  widened  to 
at  least  two  hundred  feet,  straightened  to  air  line  travel  and  provided  with 
all  the  safeguards  of  life  and  property  that  modern  science  and  great 
capital  can  devise  and  operate.  Our  vision  is  obscured  as  to  the  full  ex- 
pansion of  the  facilities  of  travel  and  of  human  intercourse  during  the 
course  of  the  twentieth  century.  We  now  "see  through  a  glass  darkly." 
Let  it  suffice  that  we,  of  an  earlier  generation,  have  lived  to  see  the  pas- 
sage of  the  post  road,  the  post-rider,  the  Colonial  tavern,  the  four-horse 
stage  coach,  tmndling  its  slow  way  over  rough  and  muddy  roads,  carrying 
with  its  human  freight  Uncle  Sam's  mail  bags  from  village  to  village,  and 
are  now  enjoying  the  dawn  of  the  new  day,  when  the  modern  electric- 
driven  steel  car,  electrically  heated,  sweeps  along  at  the  rate  of  eighty 
miles  an  hour,  while  over  our  heads  the  swift-winged  aviator  is  surpass- 
ing us  in  his  flight,  with  the  mighty  mail  bags  of  the  United  States  service. 
And  yet  there  is  more  to  follow. 

Shakespeare's  Midsummer  Night's  Dream  is  a  waking  reality — "I'll 
put  a  girdle  round  about  the  earth  in  forty  minutes." 

State  Roads  in  Rhode  Island. 

The  development  of  our  present  system  of  State  highways  in  Rhode 
Island  dates  from  the  year  1892,  when  a  committee  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly was  appointed  for  the  purpose  of  examining  into  the  conditions  then 
surrounding  the  public  highways  of  the  State  and  to  make  recommenda- 
tions to  the  General  Assembly  as  to  the  most  feasible  means  of  improving 
conditions.  This  committee  made  an  exhaustive  examination  of  the  high- 
ways of  the  State  and  reported  its  findings  to  the  General  Assembly  in 

1895- 

The  condition  of  the  public  highways  of  Rhode  Island  was  found  by 
the  committee  to  be  decidedly  poor.  The  committee  expressed  itself  of 
the  opinion  that  the  reasons  for  the  conditions  then  prevailing  upon  our 
public  highways  were  the  meagre  appropriations  for  the  construction  and 
maintenance  of  roads,  unskilled  supervision,  difficult  grades  and  poor 
alignment  and  the  disastrous  effect  produced  by  narrow  steel  tires.  The 
committee  further  reported  that  there  were  then  about  2,420  miles  of  pub- 
lic highways  in  the  State,  of  which  two  hundred  and  forty-eight  miles 
were  of  macadam,  three  hundred  and  twelve  miles  of  gravel  and  the  re- 
mainder of  dirt. 

The  committee  recommended  that  sample  half-miles  of  macadam 
road  be  built  in  the  various  towns  by  the  State  in  order  to  educate  the 
local  officials  in  charge  of  road  work  as  to  proper  methods  of  construction, 


ROADS,  POST  ROADS  AND  POST  OFFICES  777 

that  a  State  Highway  Commissioner  be  appointed  to  supervise  the  con- 
struction of  these  roads  and  to  give  advice  and  assistance  to  local  authori- 
ties and  also  that  a  geological  survey  of  the  State  be  made  in  order  to 
secure  data  concerning  the  character  and  availability  of  lOcal  road  build- 
ing materials. 

The  recommendations  of  the  committee  were,  in  the  main,  adopted  by 
the  General  Assembly.  An  act  providing  for  the  a[  pointment  of  a  State 
Highway  Commissioner  was  passed  at  the  May  session  in  1895.  Charles 
F.  Chase,  a  civil  engineer  of  Providence,  received  the  appointment  as 
Highway  Commissioner. 

An  appropriation  of  $34,500  was  made  for  the  purpose  of  construct- 
ing sample  sections  of  macadam  road.  In  1896  $30,000  was  appropriated 
for  the  same  purpose,  and  in  1898.  $7,500  was  appropriated.  The  first 
road  built  under  the  direction  of  the  State  Highway  Commissioner  was 
in  Bristol,  where  one-eighth  of  one  mile  was  finished  in  1895.  In  the 
neighborhood  of  twelve  sample  half-mile  sections  were  constructed  under 
the  direction  of  the  State  Highway  Commissioner  at  costs  varying  from 
$4,000  to  $10,000,  depending  largely  upon  the  necessity  for  heavy  founda- 
tions and  for  extensive  grading.  These  sample  sections  of  macadam  were 
very  well  built,  great  attention  having  been  paid  to  matters  of  foundation 
and  drainage.  Several  of  these  sections  remained  serviceable  for  a  period 
of  twenty  years. 

Tiie  public  apparently  considered  the  construction  of  the  sample  half- 
mile  sections  altogether  too  expensive  to  warrant  the  building  of  State 
roads  upon  a  large  scale.  The  General  Assembly  reflected  public  senti- 
ment in  this  regard  by  repealing  in  1899  the  act  creating  the  office  of  High- 
way Commissioner. 

Nothing  more  was  done  toward  the  building  of  State  Highways  until 
the  year  1902,  when  our  present  State  Highway  law  was  passed.  This 
law  provided  for  the  appointment  by  the  Governor,  with  the  advise  and 
consent  of  the  Senate,  of  a  State  Board  of  Public  Roads,  consisting  of  one 
man  from  each  of  the  five  counties  of  the  State.  The  men  first  appointed 
to  the  board  were  John  H.  Edwards,  of  Exeter ;  Frederick  E.  Perkins, 
of  Providence ;  Robert  B.  Treat,  of  Warwick ;  William  C.  Peckham,  of 
Middletown,  and  John  F.  Richmond,  of  Barrington.  Under  the  provi- 
sions of  the  State  Highway  law  the  board  appointed  an  engineer  to  serve 
as  adviser  to  the  board  and  to  supervise  the  construction  of  State  roads. 
Robert  F.  Rodman,  of  Allentown,  was  the  man  appointed  as  engineer. 

At  the  January  session  of  the  General  Assembly  in  1903,  the  board 
recommended  for  adoption  by  the  General  Assembly  of  a  system  of  State 
roads  consisting  of  the  principle  highways  of  the  State.  Fifteen  important 
through  roads  constituted  this  system  of  highways,  the  combined  length 
of  all  being  two  hundred  and  forty-nine  miles. 


778  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

The  actual  construction  of  State  roads  by  the  board  began  in  1903 
and  has  progressed  without  serious  interruption  since  that  time.  Roads 
other  than  those  originally  constituting  the  State  Highway  system  were 
from  time  to  time  designated  by  the  General  Assembly  as  State  Highways, 
so  that  now  over  eight  hundred  miles  of  roads  have  been  placed  upon  the 
State  Highway  system.  Approximately  three  hundred  and  twenty-five 
miles  of  public  roads  have  been  constructed  by  the  State. 

Until  the  year  1907,  all  of  the  roads  constructed  by  the  State  were  of 
the  plain  or  waterbound  macadam  type.  The  advent  of  motor  vehicles 
in  large  numbers  with  the  resulting  differences  in  the  wear  of  the  roads 
caused  waterbound  macadam  to  be  insufficient  to  withstand  the  travel  to 
which  the  main  roads  of  the  State  were  subjected.  More  modern  types  of 
construction  gradually  became  common.  A  tendency  to  appropriate  funds 
for  new  construction  and  to  neglect  the  appropriation  of  funds  for  main- 
taining the  roads  previously  built  brought  about  rather  a  serious  condi- 
tion about  191 2.  Many  of  the  old  macadams  had  deteriorated  so  seriously 
by  reason  of  the  shearing  effect  upon  their  surfaces  by  motor  vehicle  tires 
that  the  reconstruction  of  these  roads  became  a  paramount  problem  in  the 
State  Highway  work  of  Rhode  Island.  Many  miles  of  old  macadam  still 
are  in  existence  in  various  stages  of  preservation.  Many  miles  have,  how- 
ever, been  rebuilt  with  more  modern  types  of  pavement. 

An  important  modification  of  our  State  Highway  law  occurred  in 
1912,  when  all  bridges  lying  upon  State  roads  were  placed  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  State  Board  of  Roads.  Previous  to  that  time,  all  bridges  were 
in  the  hands  of  local  authorities.  Over  forty  unsafe,  wooden  structures 
have  since  1912  been  replaced  by  ornate,  durable  concrete  bridges.  Over 
$4,000,000  has  been  spent  to  develop  our  present  system  of  State  highways 
and  bridges. 


CHAPTER  XXXVl 


THE  DORR  WAR 


SULLIVAN  DORR  HOUSE 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 
THE  DORR  WAR. 

"This  Country,  with  its  institutions,  belongs  to  the  people  who  in- 
habit it.  Whenever  they  shall  grow  weary  of  the  existing  government, 
they  can  exercise  their  constitutional  right  of  amending  it,  or  their  revo- 
lutionary right  to  dismember  and  overthrow  it." 

These  were  the  words  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  in  his  first  inaugural 
address  as  President  of  the  United  States,  March  4,  1861.  At  that  very 
moment,  treason  and  rebellion  were  plotting  for  the  overthrow  of  the 
most  just  and  liberal  government  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 

The  great  patriot-statesman  added,  "Wiy  should  there  not  be  a 
patient  confidence  in  the  ultimate  justice  of  the  people?  Is  there  any 
better  or  equal  hope  in  the  world?  *  *  *  If  the  Almighty  Ruler  of 
Nations,  with  his  eternal  truth  and  justice,  he  on  your  side  of  the  Xorth, 
or  on  yours  of  the  South,  that  truth  and  tliat  justice  will  surely  prevail 
by  the  judgment  of  this  great  tribunal  of  the  American  people." 

No  more  fitting  words  could  guide  our  thought  in  the  discussion  of 
a  memorable  event  in  the  history  of  Rhode  Island,  styled  "THE  DORR 
WAR." 

In  the  year  1842,  the  usually  (|uiet,  law-abiding  hamlet  of 
Chepachet,  in  the  town  of  Gloucester,  was  the  political  storm-center  of 
great  opposing  forces,  not  only  of  the  State  of  Rhode  Island,  but  also 
in  a  measure  of  the  neighboring  States  of  the  New  England  group,  of 
New  York,  and  of  the  Government  at  Washington.  The  cyclonic  forces 
gathered  about  a  large  body  of  the  yeomen  of  Rhode  Island,  and  more 
especially  and  eminently  about  their  leader  and  chief,  Thomas  Wilson 
Dorr,  whom  they  recognized  by  the  title  of  "Governor  Dorr,"  who  had 
issued  a  Proclamation  for  a  meeting  of  a  General  Assembly  styled  the 
Suffrage  Assembly,  to  be  convened  at  Qiepachet,  a  temporary  capital, 
on  the  following  Independence  Day,  July  4,  1842. 

Thomas  Wilson  Dorr  was  well  born — of  noble  blood,  as  New  Eng- 
enders count  nobility.  His  father,  Sullivan  Dorr,  was  a  successful  China 
merchant,  who  came  to  Rhode  Island  from  the  Bay  State  in  1805,  erected 
the  Dorr  mansion  on  the  ancient  estate  of  Roger  Williams,  not  many  rods 
from  the  site  of  Mr.  Williams'  first  log  cabin.  Above  the  mansion  house 
on  the  estate,  were  the  graves  of  Roger  Williams  and  his  family,  and 
near  the  grave  of  the  founder  was  the  now  famous  apple  tree,  which 
drew  its  sustenance  from  the  bones  of  the  ancient  apostle  of  civil  and 
religious  liberty,  and  of  the  fruit  of  that  apple  tree,  of  which  the  youth- 


782  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

ful  Dorr  partook,  who  knows  how  much  of  the  spirit  of  the  grand  old 
apostle  of  Democracy  was  imbibed  unconsciously  by  this  young  disciple. 
Phosphates  are  good  fertilizers.  Sap  and  scions  are  near  relations,  and 
an  apple  tree  root  may  have  transmuted  Roger  the  Apostle  of  Religious 
Freedom  into  Thomas  the  later  Apostle  of  Civil  Equality. 

Wilson's  grandfather,  Ebenezer  Dorr,  the  same  night  that  Paul 
Revere  struck  out  on  his  midnight  ride  to  Lexington  and  Concord  via 
Cambridge  Common,  mounted  a  jogging  old  horse,  with  saddle-bags 
dangling  behind  him,  and  with  his  face  concealed  by  a  large  flapping  hat, 
looking  very  much  like  a  country  doctor,  rode  out  over  Boston  Neck, 
through  Roxbury,  to  Lexington,  rousing  the  country  folks  up  and  "To 
arms,"  reaching  Lexington  at  the  same  hour  as  his  compatriot,  Paul 
Revere,  and  bearing  despatches  from  General  Warren  that  the  British 
troops  were  on  the  >v'ay  to  destroy  the  military  stores  at  Concord.  Soon 
after  leaving  Rev.  Jonas  Clark's  house  in  Lexington,  Dorr  and  Revere 
were  captured  by  a  reconnoitering  party  of  British,  but,  alarmed  by  the 
ringing  of  the  country  church  bells,  the  Yankee  prisoners  were  released, 
and  the  patriot  riders  dashed  on  to  Concord  Green  and  there  awoke  the 
people  to  welcome  the  red  coats  with  their  musket  shots,  "heard  around 
the  world."  The  great  ancestor  Joseph  Dorr  came  to  Boston  from  Eng- 
land about  1670. 

Of  Sullivan  Dorr,  father  of  Thomas,  the  Providence  Journal  said 
at  his  death  in  1858,  "No  man  among  us  enjoyed  or  deserved  a  higher 
reputation  for  the  sterling  qualities  that  make  up  a  manly  character.  * 
*  *  He  was  respected  by  all  who  knew  him  and  beloved  by  all  who 
knew  him  well." 

Dorr's  mother  was  of  distinguished  Allen  blood,  Lydia  her  name. 
Zachariah  Allen,  the  great  philosopher-historian-manufacturer  of  Provi- 
dence, was  her  brother.  In  their  veins  mingled  the  blood  of  Gabriel 
Bernon,  the  French  Huguenot,  and  of  Thomas  Harris  of  Providence. 
Sullivan  and  Lydia  (Allen)  Dorr  grew  to  the  estate  of  marriage  under 
the  political  influences  of  the  formative  period  of  the  Republic,  with 
Federalism  triumphant,  during  the  administration  of  Washington  and 
Adams;  united  their  fortunes  in  1804,  and  in  1805,  their  first-born  son 
appeared,  under  the  brilliant  political  constellation  of  Thomas  JeflFerson, 
the  Father  of  American  Democracy.  The  astrologers  predicted  a  new 
star,  just  below  the  horizon,  and  it  arose.  The  boy  was  named  Thomas 
Wilson  in  honor  of  a  business  friend  in  China,  whom  the  father  loved  as 
a  brother.  That  the  boy  was  a  brilliant  student  appears  from  the  fact 
that  Phillips-Exeter  Academy,  New  Hampshire,  had  fitted  him  for  college 
at  the  age  of  fourteen,  and  that  he  graduated  from  Harvard  College  at 
the  age  of  eighteen,  the  second  scholar  in  rank  in  his  class.    He  studied 


THOMAS  W.  UORR 
Elected    Governor    Under    the    People's    Constitution 


THE  DORR  WAR  783 

law  in  the  city  of  New  York  under  the  tuition  of  the  great  jurists,  Chan- 
cellor Kent  and  \'ice-Giancellor  McCoun  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-two 
was  admitted  to  the  Rhode  Island  Bar  and  opened  an  office  for  practice 
in  his  native  city,  Providence,  in  1827. 

Dorr's  splendid  talents,  high  social  rank,  and  a  family  fortune,  opened 
before  the  young  lawyer  the  vista  of  a  brilliant  future.  In  his  physique, 
Thomas  Wilson  Dorr  was  a  man  of  mark;  in  fact,  he  might  have  borne 
the  soubriquet  of  "The  Little  Giant,"  as  appropriately  as  Stephen  A.  Doug- 
las of  Illinois,  whom  he  much  resembled  in  size  and  stature.  A  large,  round 
head  was  joined  to  broad  shoulders  by  a  stout  neck.  His  body  was  thick- 
set, tending  to  corpulency.  The  forehead  was  full,  high,  intellectual,  with 
an  early  tendency  to  baldness.  His  eyes  were  bright,  full,  sym]jatlictic ; 
his  nose  regular,  his  mouth  delicate  and  pure,  his  chin,  owing  to  the 
shortness  of  the  neck,  was  strong,  but  was  lost  in  the  flesh  that  underlaid 
it.  His  face  was  well  shaven.  He  wore  a  high  collar  with  a  broad,  stiff 
stock  about  his  neck.  He  was  always  dressed  in  genteel  style,  with  a  silk 
hat,  a  military  cloak,  and  often  carried  a  cane.  Some  of  the  pictures  of 
Dorr  remind  one  of  Napoleon  as  pictured  at  St.  Helena,  and  one  can 
almost  see  in  the  facial  contour  the  masterly  qualities  of  the  great  "soldier 
of  fortune."  A  genial  home,  a  family  of  which  he  was  the  oldest  and 
most  beloved  son  and  brother,  with  sound  health  of  mind  and  body, 
troops  of  friends,  able  and  popular  in  his  native  city,  Thomas  W.  Dorr 
entered  on  his  life  work  with  great  promise  and  few,  if  any,  handicaps. 
In  mental  acumen  and  independence  of  judgment.  Dorr  was  the  Wendell 
Phillips  of  his  day;  in  courtesy  and  generous  temper,  a  Curtis;  in  initiative, 
a  Roosevelt;  in  statesmanship,  a  T5ryan;  in  all  these  qualities  one  of  the 
greatest  constructive  propagandists  and  patriots  ever  born  on  Rhode 
Island  soil — the  bright  particular  star  of  our  nineteenth  century  horizon. 

Young  Dorr  seemed  to  have  taken  life  seriously  at  the  start,  and  the 
influence  of  his  great  teacher,  Chancellor  Kent,  must  have  moved  him  to 
take  up  the  profound  questions  of  law,  education  and  government  with 
great  sincerity  and  devotion.  In  1834,  at  the  age  of  twenty-nine,  he  w-as 
elected  to  the  General  Assembly  by  the  limited  suffrage  of  the  freemen 
of  his  native  town,  holding  the  office  by  annual  election  for  three  years. 
A  little  later,  Mr.  Dorr  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  school  committee 
of  Providence,  of  which  then  large  body  he  was  made  its  president.  Mr. 
Dorr,  appreciating  the  value  of  a  liberal  education  for  youth,  advocated 
the  establishment  of  a  public  high  school  for  Providence,  for  u[)  to  the 
year  1839,  secondary  education  in  Rhode  Island  had  been  enjoyed  only  at 
private  expense,  thus  preventing  the  ambitious  children  of  the  poor  from 
obtaining  more  than  a  very  limited  common  school  education.  His  argu- 
ments prevailed  with  the  people  and  in  1840,  Thomas  Wilson  Dorr,  the 


784  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

educator,  laid  the  corner  stone  of  the  high  school  building  on  Benefit 
street,  now  the  home  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State,  the  first  build- 
ing erected  by  the  people  of  the  State  for  the  free  education  of  youth  in 
secondary  studies.  Unconsciously,  but  surely,  the  State  of  Rhode  Island 
has  paid  its  silent  tribute  to  Mr.  Dorr,  in  transmuting  the  temple  of 
secondary  education,  erected  through  his  influence,  into  the  highest  temple 
of  justice  of  the  commonwealth. 

Mr.  Dorr  was  also  the  first  to  advocate  the  establishment  of  the 
office  of  Superintendent  of  Public  Schools,  and  by  his  urgent  efi^orts  Mr. 
Nathan  Bishop  was  elected  superintendent  of  the  Providence  schools, 
the  first  to  hold  the  office  in  the  United  States. 

"The  Dorr  Revolution"  as  it  is  known  in  history  entered  on  its  active 
season  of  campaign  in  the  year  1840.  Thomas  Wilson  Dorr,  the  leader  of 
the  sufl^rage  party,  was  thirty-five  years  old,  in  the  full  strength  of  a 
vigorous  manhood,  an  intellectual  and  political  leader  among  a  multitude 
of  strong  men  of  the  legal  profession,  of  whom  were  Samuel  Y.  Atwell, 
Joseph  K.  Angell,  the  distinguished  counsellor  and  law  writer ;  General 
Thomas  F.  Carpenter,  the  leader  of  the  Rhode  Island  Bar ;  David  Dan- 
iels, Levi  C.  Eaton,  John  P.  Knowles,  an  Independent  in  politics ;  Dutee 
J.  Pearse,  Attorney  General  of  Rhode  Island,  and  United  States  District 
Attorney  for  Rhode  Island  and  a  member  of  Congress  from  1826  to 
1837;  Aaron  White,  Jr.,  and  many  others. 

The  battle,  at  first  political,  culminating  in  a  military  display  and 
show  of  arms  at  Chepachet,  was  waged  over  the  question  of  the  residence 
of  the  Supreme  and  Ultimate  Sovereign  Power  of  the  State.  Mr.  Dorr 
and  his  party  declared  that  according  to  "the  Republican  theory  of  this 
country  this  power  resides  in  the  People  themselves,"  a  power  superior 
to  Legislatures  or  Courts,  inasmuch  as  Courts  and  Legislatures  are  the 
creatures  of  the  people,  exercising  their  functions  according  to  funda- 
mental rules  prescribed  by  the  people  in  the  solemn  enactments  of  Con- 
stitutional Government.  The  party  holding  such  views  was  called,  The 
People's  Party,  the  members  of  it,  Dorrites.  The  Freeholders'  Party, 
alias  Algerines,  maintained  that  the  Sovereign  Power  resided  in  the  Free- 
men, or  Freeholders,  or  those  who  possessed  a  certain  landed  estate,  and 
their  oldest  sons.  They  claimed  that  the  right  of  suffrage  was  not  a 
natural  but  an  acquired  right,  and  that  it  inhered  in  the  possessors  of 
land,  and  the  descent  of  right  by  primogeniture  to  the  oldest  son  of  such 
land-owners. 

The  one  maintained  the  doctrine  of  universal  manhood  suffrage. 
The  other  as  firmly  held  to  the  doctrine  of  suffrage  limited  by  a  fixed 
property  qualification — "sand  and  gravel  suffrage" — ^as  it  was  sometimes 
piquantly  styled.    Here  you  have  a  live  issue,  fundamental,  of  paramount 


THE  DORR  WAR  785 

importance,  and  involving  issues  of  tremendous  consequence  to  the  State. 
It  was  the  contest  which  feudalism  bequeathed  to  modern  civilization  and 
government,  a  remnant  of  fifteenth  century  doctrine  surviving  in  the 
nineteenth. 

It  is  but  fair  to  state  that  the  freehold  suffrage  doctrine  was  held  by 
many  of  the  fathers  of  tlie  Republic.  In  the  convention  which  framed 
our  National  Constitution,  the  question  of  a  property  qualification  for 
office-holders  as  well  as  voters  occupied  days  of  debate.  Charles  Pinck- 
ney  of  South  Carolina  urged  that  a  candidate  for  President  should  possess 
a  fortune  of  $100,000,  a  Supreme  Judge  $50,000,  and  a  like  proportion  to 
members  of  Congress.  Franklin  made  answer:  "I  dislike  everjthing  that 
tends  to  debase  the  spirit  of  the  common  people.  If  honesty  is  often  the 
companion  of  wealth,  and  if  poverty  is  exposed  to  peculiar  temptation, 
the  possession  of  property  increases  the  desire  for  more.  Some  of  the 
greatest  rogues  I  was  ever  acquainted  with  were  the  richest  rogues.  If 
this  constitution  should  betray  a  great  partiality  to  the  rich,  it  will  not 
only  hurt  us  in  the  esteem  of  the  most  liberal  and  enlightened  men  in 
Europe,  but  discourage  the  common  people  from  coming  to  us."  The 
motion  of  Pickney  was  rejected  by  a  general  "No." 

On  the  question  of  the  qualifications  of  electors  for  members  of 
Congress,  Governeur  Morris  of  New  York  desired  to  restrain  the  right  of 
suffrage  to  freeholders.  He  was  supported  by  Dickinson  of  New  York, 
and  James  Madison  of  N'irginia,  who  declared  that  the  freeholders  would 
be  the  safest  depositories  of  Republican  liberty.  Ellsworth  of  Connec- 
ticut asked,  "Ought  not  every  man  who  pays  a  tax  to  vote  for  the  repre- 
sentative who  is  to  levy  and  dispose  of  his  money?" 

Butler  declared :  "Abridgements  of  the  right  of  suffrage  tend  to 
revolution."  "The  true  idea,"  said  Mason  of  Virginia,  "is  that  every  man 
having  evidence  of  attachment  to  the  Society,  and  permanent  common 
interest  with  it,  ought  to  share  in  all  its  rights  and  privileges." 

Rutledge  of  South  Carolina,  said,  "The  idea  of  restraining  the  right 
of  suffrage  to  the  freeholders  would  create  division  among  the  people, 
and  make  enemies  of  all  who  should  be  excluded."  On  the  final  vote  on 
the  proposed  qualification  by  Morris,  Delaware  alone  voted  in  its  favor. 

Let  us,  for  a  little,  look  at  the  background  of  Rhode  Island  Sover- 
eignty as  it  appears  on  the  pages  of  our  ancient  records.  The  founders 
of  our  commonwealth  were  of  English  blood  and  heritage.  Under  Eng- 
lish rule  they  were  subjects,  not  sovereigns.  There  was  one  Sovereign, 
the  King,  and  the  laws  were  of  his  making.  In  crossing  the  sea,  these 
men  and  women  changed  the  skies  over  their  heads  and  the  lands  on 
which  they  settled,  but  they  were  still  subjects,  not  sovereigns.     Wher- 

R  1—50 


786  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

ever  they  made  settlement,  Boston,  Plymouth,  Providence,  Newport,  New 
Haven,  New  York,  whatever  independency  they  might  claim,  was  clouded 
by  the  superior  independency  of  the  Crown  over  their  heads,  not  on  them. 
Whatever  claim  they  might  make  as  to  civil  freedom  was  limited  by  the 
scope  of  the  Royal  privilege  under  which  their  charters  were  granted. 
The  term  "freemen"  in  our  early  records  has  no  significance  of  value 
as  a  civic  asset,  but  rather  a  social  or  civil  distinction  and  prerogative. 
Men  and  women  were  admitted  as  inhabitants  who  never  enjoyed  the 
privileges  of  freemen.  In  Massachusetts  Bay,  only  church  members  were 
allowed  such  privileges.  In  Providence,  by  the  terms  of  the  proprietary, 
"the  masters  of  famihes"  were  the  governing  and  voting  body.  The 
first-comers  or  proprietors  claimed  the  right  to  pervent  or  deprive  of 
citizenship  and  civic  privileges  any  and  all,  not  agreeable  to  them.  So 
long  as  the  ruling  class,  or  aristocracy,  paid  their  taxes  and  paid  obeis- 
ance to  royal  authority,  there  was  no  dissent  on  the  part  of  the  English 
Crown. 

The  settlers  on  Aquidneck,  March  7,  1638,  incorporated  themselves 
into  "A  Bodie  Politick,"  submitting  their  persons,  lives  and  estate  unto 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  King  of  Kings  and  Lord  of  Lords,  and  to  all 
those  perfect  and  most  absolute  laws  of  His  given  us  in  His  holy  word,  to 
be  guided  and  judged  thereby,  and  elected  William  Coddington  as  Judge 
and  Ruler. 

A  year  passes  and  the  freemen  of  Portsmouth  acknowledged  them- 
selves "as  loyal  subjects  of  His  Majesty,  Iving  Charles,  and  in  his  name, 
doe  hereby  binde  ourselves  into  a  civill  body  politick,  unto  his  laws  accord- 
ing to  matters  of  justice."  In  1641,  the  freemen  of  Newport,  to  the 
number  of  56  (four  others  having  been  disfranchised  before  the  meet- 
ing), unanimously  agreed  that  "the  Government  which  this  Bodie  Pol- 
itick doth  attend  unto  in  this  island  and  the  jurisdiction  thereof,  in  favor 
of  our  Prince  is  a  DEMOCRACIE,  or  popular  government ;  that  is  to 
say,  it  is  the  power  of  the  Body  of  Freemen  orderly  assembled,  or  the 
major  part  of  them,  to  make  or  constitute  just  laws  by  which  they  will 
be  regulated  and  to  depute   from  among  themselves   such   ministers   as 

shall  see  them  faithfully  executed  between  Man  and  Man." 
***** 

The  founders  of  our  Commonwealth  established  a  limited  Democ- 
racy under  a  limited  monarchy,  a  composite  of  government  which  in- 
cluded the  Colonial  estates  on  the  Western  Continent.  General  Sover- 
eignty resided  in  the  Crown.  Local  Sovereignty  resided  in  the  major  part 
of  firstcomers  and  their  legal  political  heirs.  Suffrage  and  freemanship 
were  movable  assets,  subject  to  the  will  of  the  majority  of  those  possess- 
ing the  privileges.     A   freeman  to-day,  might  be   disfranchised  on    the 


THE  DORR  WAR  787 

morrow,  without  redress,  for  a  wrong  committed  or  a  right  wrongfully 
taken  away.  The  Roger  WiUiams  Patent  of  1643-49  and  the  Royal 
Qiarter  of  Charles  II,  of  1663,  neither  enlarged  or  abridged  the  rights 
of  the  major  part  of  the  freemen  to  make  and  execute  laws,  nor  did  either 
State  paper  deal  with  the  individual  franchise.  The  supremacy  of  the 
town  government,  one  of  the  j^eculiar  features  of  the  independency  of 
the  Rhode  Island  foundation,  rested  on  the  original  right  of  the  towns  to 
determine  the  matter  of  citizenship  alias  freemanship,  a  right  which  was 
transferred  from  the  towns  to  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Colony  by  an 
Act  of  the  Assembly  passed  at  Newport,  May,  1665.  After  setting  forth 
the  form  of  the  Freeman's  Oath,  the  Act  proceeds : 

This  (General)  Assembly,  "Do  order  and  declare,  that  so  many  of 
them  that  take  the  aforesaid  enjoyment  (that  is  householders  or  aged 
eighteen  or  more)  and  are  of  competent  estates,  civil  conversation,  and 
obedient  to  the  civil  magistrate,  shall  be  admitted  freemen  of  this  Colony 
upon  their  express  desire  therein  declared  to  the  General  Assembly,  either 
by  themselves,  with  sufficient  testimony  of  their  fitness  and  c|ualifications 
as  shall  by  the  Assembly  be  deemed  satisfactory;  or  if  by  the  chief  officer 
of  the  town  or  towns  where  they  live,  they  be  proposed  and  declared  as 
aforesaid ;  and  that  none  shall  have  admission  to  vote  for  public  office  or 
deputies  or  enjoy  any  privilege  of  freemen  till  admitted  by  the  Assembly 
as  aforesaid  and  their  names  recorded  in  the  general  records  of  this 
Colony." 

In  1723-24,  the  General  Assembly  passed  an  Act  granting  admission 
as  freemen  to  a  "freeholder  of  lands,  tenements,  or  hereditaments  in 
such  town  where  he  shall  be  admitted  free,  of  the  value  of  one  hundred 
pounds,  or  to  the  value  of  forty  shillings  per  annum,  or  the  eldest  son  of 
such  freeholder;  any  act,  custom  or  usage  to  the  contrary  notwith- 
standing." 

In  1729,  the  £100  was  increased  to  £200,  and  in  1746,  to  £400.  In 
1760,  the  property  qualification  was  reduced  to  £40.  and  in  1798,  on  a 
revision  of  the  General  Laws  of  the  State  by  the  General  Assembly,  the 
value  of  the  requisite  real  estate  for  suffrage  was  declared  to  be  $134.  or 
a  rental  value  of  $,y  per  annum.  This  property  must  lie  within  the  State, 
hut  not  necessarily  in  the  town  in  which  the  candidate  for  a  freeman 
lived  or  presented  his  request.  It  needs  no  argument  to  show  that  Rhode 
Island  had  proceeded  from  a  Democracy  in  which  the  majority  held  rule 
to  a  "landed  aristocracy"  and  in  addition  had  made  that  aristocracy 
hereditary  through  the  law  of  primogeniture,  conveying  the  titled  pre- 
rogative of  freeman  to  the  oldest  son  from  generation  to  generation. 
This  restricted  suffrage  was  in  full  force  and  effect  in  1840,  when  the 
suffrage-submerged,  male  population  of  Rhode  Island,  twenty-one  years 


788  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

of  age  and  over,  sought  to  possess  themselves  of  a  portion  of  State  Sov- 
ereignty, of  which  they  regarded  themselves  unjustly  and  unconstitu- 
tionally deprived.  And,  strange  to  say,  the  anomaly  of  the  property  qual- 
ification for  suffrage  as  established  in  1723,  still  remains  as  a  dark  blot 
on  the  fair  pages  of  the  natural  and  constitutional  rights  of  the  citizen^ 
ship  of  Rhode  Island,  a  vestige  of  that  ancient  feudalism  which  created 
the  estates  of  lords  and  serfs,  and  erected  and  still  holds  up  the  standard 
of  a  small  landed  aristocrat  over  the  head  of  the  sturdy  manhood  yeo- 
manry of  a  Commonwealth,  in  the  Greatest  Republic  of  the  World. 

The  events  and  issues  culminating  in  the  Dorr  War,  may  be  stated 
briefly  as  follows:  From  1636  to  1776,  the  sovereignty  of  the  Colony  of 
Rhode  Island  resided  in  the  English  Sovereigns  from  Charles  the  Second 
to  George  the  Third.  The  action  of  the  American  Colonies  and  the  issue 
of  the  Revolution  transferred  the  Sovereignty  from  the  reigning  King  to 
his  former  subjects,  the  people  of  the  United  States  of  America,  as  a 
nation,  and  to  the  people  of  the  several  colonies  in  conjoint  partnership. 
As  sovereignty  is  an  attribute  of  persons  and  not  of  things,  it  could  not 
inhere  in  real  property  nor  in  institutions  controlling  the  same.  Eleven 
of  the  old  colonies,  now  Sovereign  States,  framed  and  adopted  constitu- 
tions in  harmony  with  the  principle  of  the  Declaration  and  the  Articles 
of  Confederation,  by  reason  of  which,  Sovereignty  was  made  to  inhere  in 
the  people  and  the  ballot,  or  individual  suffrage  was  made  to  coincide  with 
a  male  electorate  over  twenty-one  years  of  age.  Rhode  Island  and  Con- 
necticut still  held  to  their  original  charters,  the  latter  until  1818,  the 
former  until  1842.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  from  the  fourth  of  May, 
1776,  to  May,  1843,  the  date  when  our  present  constitution  went  into 
effect,  Rhode  Island  was  governed  under  an  unwritten  constitution,  like 
the  English  Government,  in  an  opinion  given  by  Chief  Justice  Story  in 
1829,  in  the  name  of  the  "Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States."  That 
opinion  declared  the  annulment  of  the  Charter  by  the  Act  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  May  4,  1776,  and  the  consequent  transference  of  Sover- 
eignty to  the  people. 

The  General  Assembly  of  the  State,  acting  under  supposed  Charter 
authority,  continued  to  e.xercise  supreme  legislative,  executive  and  judi- 
cial powers,  notwithstanding  repeated  attempts  to  secure  a  convention 
to  frame  a  State  Constitution.  In  1797,  George  Burrill,  a  lawyer  of 
Providence,  a  brother  of  United  States  Senator  Burrill,  urged  the  adop- 
tion of  a  State  Constitution,  saying  that  unless  there  was  power  some- 
where to  bring  about  a  change,  Rhode  Island  would  forever  exhibit  the 
paradox  of  a  "free,  sovereign  and  independent  people  desirous  of  chang- 
ing their  form  of  government  without  the  power  of  doing  it."  In  1797 
and  again  in  1799,  propositions  relative  to  calling  a  convention  to  form 


THE  DORR  WAR  789 

a  constitution  were  defeated  by  the  land-freeholders  in  the  General  As- 
sembly, the  men  in  the  exercise  of  power,  refusing  to  surrender  it.  In 
1808,  the  great  jurist,  Henry  Wheaton,  strongly  urged  the  adoption  of  a 
State  Constitution.  In  1821,  the  proposition  to  appoint  delegates  to  form 
a  written  Constitution  was  rejected  by  the  freemen,  1619  in  favor,  1905 
opposed;  the  next  year  the  same  proposition  was  defeated  by  a  vote  of 
843  yeas  to  1804  nays.  In  1824,  a  convention  held  at  Newport,  framed 
a  Constitution  that  was  rejected  by  the  freemen  by  a  vote  of  1668  in 
favor,  to  3206  against  it. 

In  1834,  delegates  from  twelve  towns,  including  Providence,  New- 
port, Cumberland  and  Smithfield,  met  in  Providence,  "to  decide  upon  the 
best  course  to  be  pursued  for  the  establishment  of  a  written  constitution 
which  should  properly  define  and  fix  the  powers  of  the  difTerent  depart- 
ments of  government  and  the  rights  of  the  citizen."  In  this  convention, 
held  February,  1834,  we  are  first  introduced  to  Thomas  Wilson  Dorr,  in 
connection  with  the  agitation  for  the  extension  of  the  right  of  sutTrage. 
Dorr  was  a  delegate  from  Providence  and  chairman  of  a  sub-committee 
of  five  to  prepare  an  "Address  to  the  People  of  Rhode  Island,"  on  the 
need  of  a  new  Constitution.  An  adjourned  session  of  the  convention  was 
held  at  Providence,  March  12,  1834,  when  Mr.  Dorr  presented,  in  what 
was  acknowledged  a  masterly  paper,  the  first  clear  statement  of  those  who 
wished  a  State  Constitution.  The  report  opens  with  a  declaration  of 
loyalty  to  the  "ancient  sturdy  spirit  of  Rhode  Island  patriotism,"  "coun- 
sels concession  and  compromise  on  matters  of  local  politics,"  and  urges 
that  "the  Constitution  should  be  the  fundamental  law  of  the  State,  coming 
directly  from  the  free  and  Sovereign  people."  "When  the  American 
States  severed  the  political  tie  which  formerly  bound  them  to  Great 
Britain,  all  obligation  to  acknowledge  obedience  to  a  British  Charter  as 
a  Constitution  of  Government  was  of  course  dissolved ;  and  the  people  of 
each  State  were  left  free  and  sovereign." 

"The  Sovereignty  of  the  King  of  England  passed,  not  to  the  Gov- 
ernor and  Company  of  Rhode  Island,  but  to  the  people  at  large,  who 
fought  the  battles  of  the  Revolution  and  to  their  descendants." 

"That  the  people  of  Rhode  Island  retain  their  inherent  right  to 
establish  (in  their  original  sovereign  capacity)  a  Constitution  cannot  be 
doubted."  Mr.  Dorr  affirmed  that  the  Rhode  Island  government  was  an 
"oligarchy  or  the  rule  of  a  few,"  and  not  republican,  "a  government 
resulting  from  the  will  of  the  majority,  ascertained  by  a  just  and  equal 
representation." 

Still  further,  Mr.  Dorr  says,  "We  contend  that  a  participation  in  the 
choice  of  those  who  make  and  administer  laws  is  a  natural  right,  which 
cannot  be  abridged,  nor  suspended  any  farther  than  the  greatest  good  of 


790  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

the  greatest  number  imperatively  requires."  By  this  rule  Mr.  Dorr  ex- 
cluded women  and  minors  from  the  provision  of  suffrage. 

The  convention  of  1834  brought  forth  nothing  in  form,  but  the 
results  of  the  movement  were  important,  in  the  production  of  an  issue  and 
the  discovery  of  a  competent  leader  of  the  people's  movement  in  the 
person  of  Thomas  Wilson  Dorr. 

The  six  years  following  were  full  of  agitation  of  the  suffrage  ques- 
tion, by  which  the  people  of  Rhode  Island  were  made  familiar  with  the 
arguments  for  and  against  Dorr's  claim  for  manhood  suffrage.  The  most 
radical  address  of  the  time  purporting  to  have  its  origin  in  New  York, 
set  before  the  people  of  the  State  a  definite  method  of  securing  a  liberal 
constitution  starting  with  the  people  in  primary  meetings,  much  after 
the  method  now  in  operation  for  primary  or  preferential  elections.  By  a 
natural  and  easy  political  process,  the  legitimacy  and  legality  of  the  action 
of  the  people  was  to  be  determined  by  the  United  States  Congress  by 
virtue  of  its  authority  in  determining  the  validity  of  the  election  of 
Senators  to  that  body. 

In  the  autumn  of  1840,  the  Rhode  Island  Suffrage  Association  was 
organized  by  Providence  men  for  inaugurating  anew  the  movement  for 
a  constitution  with  freer  suffrage.  Woonsocket  followed,  and  before  the 
spring  of  1841,  nearly  every  town  in  the  State  had  a  free  suffrage  society. 
These  organizations  were  non-partisan  and  during  the  heated  campaign 
of  the  Whigs  and  Democrats  in  1840,  the  organs  of  neither  party  treated 
the  local  suffrage  with  much  consideration.  As  a  brief  compend  of  poli- 
tical conditions  in  184042  and  the  long  debate  on  the  suffrage  question, 
I  quote  the  declaration  of  principles  of  the  Rhode  Island  Suffrage  Asso- 
ciation : 

1.  All  men  are  created  free  and  equal. 

2.  Possession  of  property  should  not  create  political  advantages  for 
its  holder. 

3.  That  every  body  politic  should  have  for  its  foundation  a  bill  of 
rights  and  a  written  constitution. 

4.  That  Rhode  Island  had  neither. 

5.  That  the  charter  lost  its  authority  when  the  United  States  became 
independent. 

6.  That  every  State  is  entitled  to  a  republican  form  of  government. 

7.  That  any  State  is  anti-republican  which  keeps  a  majority  of  the 
people  from  participating  in  its  affairs. 

8.  That  by  every  right,  human  and  divine,  the  majority  should 
govern  ;  and 

9.  That  the  time  has  gone  by  for  submission  to  most  unjust  outrages 
upon  social  and  political  rights. 

These  propositions  led  to  the  following  resolutions : 


THE  DORR  WAR  791 

1.  "That  the  power  of  the  State  should  be  vested  in  the  hands  of 
the  people,  and  that  tlie  people  have  a  right,  from  time  to  time,  to  assemble 
tog-ether,  cither  by  themselves  or  their  representatives,  for  the  establish- 
ment of  a  republican  form  of  government." 

2.  "That  whenever  a  majority  of  the  citizens  of  this  State,  who  are 
recognized  as  citizens  by  the  United  States,  shall  by  their  delegates  in  con- 
vention assembled,  draft  a  constitution,  and  the  same  shall  be  accepted 
by  their  constituents,  it  will  be  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  the  law  of  the 
State." 

Before  entering  the  final  stage  of  the  free  suffrage  or  Dorr  campaign, 
which  culminated  at  Acote's  Hill,  we  are  prepared  to  state  and  to  under- 
stand clearly  the  position  of  Dorr  and  his  party. 

First:  That  manhood  suffrage  is  a  natural  and  not  an  acquired  right, 
to  be  exercised  by  every  citizen,  unless  forfeited  by  crime  or  incom- 
petency. 

Second :  Sovereignty,  in  republican  state,  inhered  in  the  citizenship, 
not  in  the  soil.  At  his  trial,  in  1844,  Mr.  Dorr  said,  "The  Sovereign 
power  in  a  republic  is  a  tenancy  in  common ;  no  person  has  a  right  to 
rise  up  against  the  laws.  The  Sovereign  power  is  not  in  the  legislature. 
It  would  be  a  solecism  to  speak  of  a  Sovereign  Court  or  a  Sovereign 
Senate.  *  *  *  In  a  political  and  legal  sense,  the  sovereignty  is  not 
in  the  electoral  body.  *  *  *  There  is  a  sovereign  power  superior  to 
all  governments.  The  people,  individually  are  subject  to  government, 
but  jointly.  They  are  above  all  governments."  "In  the  State,  the  political 
people  are  nearly  coincident  with  the  Sovereign  people,  the  people  who 
are  tenants  in  common  of  the  sovereignty.  *  *  *  j  believe  in  the 
Sovereign,  outside  of  all  organizations." 

Third:  The  people  have  an  unalienable  and  indefeasible  right,  in 
their  original,  sovereign  and  unlimited  capacity,  to  alter,  reform,  or  totally 
change  the  same,  whenever  their  safety  or  happiness  requires. 

Fourth :  The  Charter  of  i663'  was  annulled  by  the  .Act  of  May  4, 
1776.  In  his  opinion,  Mr.  Dorr  was  sustained  by  the  L'nited  States 
Supreme  Court. 

Fifth:  Every  Republican  Commonwealth  should  have  the  protection 
of  a  Bill  of  Rights  and  a  Constitution  limiting  and  declaring  the  people's 
rights,  duties,  and  limitations. 

And  Sixth :  For  the  Sovereign  people  of  a  Republican  State,  as  Rhode 
Island,  but  one  course  was  open  for  them  to  pursue  and  that  was  by  a 
properly  ordered  convention  to  register  the  people's  will  in  a  Constitution 
to  be  ratified  by  all  the  people  claiming  citizenship  under  the  laws  of 
the  United  States. 

In  support  of  these  strong  positions,  Mr.  Dorr  cited  Jefferson,  Mad- 
ison, Munroe,  Jay,  Washington,  and  others  of  the  Fathers  of  the  republic. 


792  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

In  opposition  to  the  opinions  and  arguments  of  the  suffragist  was  the 
position  of  the  people  calling  themselves  "The  Law  and  Order  Party,"  or 
"The  Freemen's  Party."  This  party  claimed  that  the  Charter  of  1663 
was  the  constitutional  law  of  the  State  and  that  its  provisions  and  all 
Colonial  and  State  Legislation  since  it,s  adoption  were  binding  on  the 
people  of  the  State.  They  claimed  that  the  power  to  call  a  convention  to 
adopt  a  constitution  was  vested  in  the  General  Assembly,  the  legislative 
branch  of  the  government.  Authorities  like  Judge  Pitman  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  Dr.  Francis  Wayland,  President  of  Brown  University,  Dr.  Chan- 
ning  of  Massachusetts,  urged  that  the  majority  argument  of  the  suffrage 
party  was  revolutionary  in  that  it  gave  to  the  people,  at  any  and  all  times 
the  power  to  resolve  themselves  into  "their  original  sovereign  capacity" 
and  that  the  action  of  a  majority  without  due  process  of  law  was  "revolu- 
tion, not  reform."  The  suffragists  answered  their  opponents  by  saying 
that  twenty  of  the  twenty-five  State  constitutions  then  adopted  declared 
that  sovereignty  lay  in  the  people  and  that  they  had  the  right  to  change  the 
government.  Eight  of  these  constitutions  gave  the  people  the  right  to 
change  the  form  of  government,  "in  such  manner  as  they  may  think 
proper,"  or  "as  they  may  deem  expedient,"  and  Virginia  declared  that 
"when  any  government  shall  be  found  inadequate  or  contrary  to  these 
purposes,  a  majority  of  the  community  hath  an  indubitable,  unalienable 
and  indefeasible  right  to  reform,  alter  or  abolish  it  in  such  manner  as 
shall  be  judged  most  conducive  to  the  public  weal." 

At  the  January  session  of  the  General  Assembly,  1841,  the  town  of 
Smithfield  in  a  memorial,  prayed  that  Body  "to  take  the  extreme  inequal- 
ity of  the  present  representation  from  the  several  towns  under  consider- 
ation, and  in  such  manner  as  seems  most  practicable  and  just  to  correct 
the  evil  complained  of."  A  select  committee,  of  which  Asher  Robbins 
was  chairman,  reported  on  the  memorial  in  favor  of  a  convention  to  frame 
a  new  constitution  for  the  State.  On  July  6,  1841,  the  Assembly  passed  an 
act  for  such  a  convention  to  be  held  in  Providence  in  November,  1841, 
delegates  to  be  chosen  at  the  semi-annual  election  in  August.  The  vote 
in  the  House  of  Representatives  stood  37  in  favor,  16  against,  and  18 
absent  or  not  voting.  The  Law  and  Order  Party  had  now  ordered  a 
convention,  but  the  sufifragists  had  little  confidence  in  the  outcome  of 
such  a  convention,  springing  as  it  did  from  the  General  Assembly  as 
Freeholders.  At  the  same  time,  it  contravened  the  main  principle  of 
their  contention  that  a  constitution  should  originate  with  the  people  and 
not  from  what  seemed  to  the  Dorr  party  only  a  de  facto  government. 

The  Dorr  party  resolved  on  a  popular  parade  in  Providence  which 
took  place  April  17,  1841,  and  at  least  3,000  men,  possibly  3,500,  joined 
in  the  procession.     All  wore  the  badge  "I  am  an  American  Citizen." 


THE  DORR  WAR  793 

Banners  were  carried  bearing  such  legends  as,  "Wortli  makes  the  man, 
but  sand  and  gravel  the  voter."  "Virtue,  Patriotism  and  Intelligence 
versus  $134  worth  of  dirt."  "I  die  for  Liberty."  "Peaceably  if  we  can, 
forcibly  if  we  must." 

This  demonstration,  unusual  for  the  times,  and  unexpectedly  large, 
greatly  encouraged  the  Suffrage  party,  converted  some  of  the  freeholders' 
class,  and  compelled  the  Freemen's  party  "to  stop,  look  and  listen."  There 
was  "a  sound  of  a-going"  in  the  tops  of  the  political  mulberry  trees  of 
Rhode  Island. 

The  time  for  argument  and  education  had  passed ;  the  time  for  action 
had  come.  The  suffragists  decided  to  make  the  issue  on  the  rights  of  the 
people  to  hold  a  People's  Convention  for  framing  a  Constitution  and 
Saturday,  August  28,  1841,  was  set  as  the  day  for  the  choice  of  delegates, 
three  days  in  advance  of  the  date  of  the  semi-annual  election  of  members 
of  the  General  Assembly,  when  delegates  were  also  to  be  chosen  to  the 
convention,  ordered  by  the  State  Legislature. 

Although  the  day  was  rainy,  7,512  votes  were  cast,  and  delegates  to 
the  convention  were  chosen  from  all  the  towns  e.xcept  East  and  West 
Greenwich  and  Westerly.  It  is  estimated  that  of  the  10,000  freemen  in 
the  State,  2,500  had  voted,  and  in  several  of  the  towns  the  delegates 
belonged  to  the  freemen  class.  Of  the  18  from  Providence,  more  than 
two-thirds  were  freemen.  The  convention  met  in  Providence  on  Monday, 
October  4,  1841,  and  by  the  following  Saturday,  October  9,  the  Consti- 
tution was  framed  and  the  body  adjourned  to  meet  again  after  the  people 
had  examined  the  document.  The  leading  men  of  the  convention  were 
Thomas  W.  Dorr  of  Providence,  Dutee  J.  Pearce  of  Newport,  Ariel 
Ballou  of  Cumberland,  John  R.  Waterman  of  Warwick,  foshua  B.  Rath- 
bun  of  Tiverton,  Perez  Simmons  of  Providence,  Palemon  Walcott  of 
Smithfield,  Dr.  J.  A.  Brown  and  Samuel  H.  Wales  of  Providence.  So 
little  public  interest  was  awakened  by  the  convention,  that  Mr.  Dorr  is 
quoted  as  saying  that  he  feared  an  adjournment  would  be  the  death-blow 
to  the  Constitution.  It  did  meet,  however,  on  November  15th,  and  closed 
its  labors  on  the  18th.  The  most  vital  debate  at  this  session  was  over  the 
limitation  of  the  right  of  suffrage  to  "every  idiite  male  citizen."  A 
motion  to  strike  out  the  word  "white"  won  i8  votes  out  of  a  total  of 
about  100.  A  provision  was  adopted,  by  which  the  General  Assembly 
should  submit  to  the  electors,  the  question  whether  the  word  "white" 
should  be  stricken  out,  and  until  so  amended,  persons  excluded  from 
voting  by  reason  of  their  color  were  exempt  from  military  duty  and  from 
taxation. 

The  Freemen's  Convention  met  November  i,  1841,  remained  in 
session    two   weeks    and    without   completing    their    work   adjourned    to 


794  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

February,  1842,  leaving  the  suffrage  matter  open  for  later  consideration, 
with  the  suggestion  that  suffrage  be  limited  to  the  owners  of  $134  worth 
of  land,  or  of  $500  in  personal  property. 

Two  constitutions  were  now  before  the  people  of  Rhode  Island,  the 
People's,  representing  the  views  of  the  free  suffragists,  and  the  Freemen's 
Constitution,  originating  in  the  act  of  the  General  Assembly.  Time  does 
not  allow  a  comparison  of  these  two  documents.  Impartial  judges  have 
given  the  preference  to  the  People's,  in  its  general  principles,  independent 
of  the  suffrage  question,  which  was  of  course  the  major  point  at  issue. 
It  was  an  up-to-date  document,  consonant  with  a  Republican  form  of 
government  and  in  accord  with  the  constitutions  of  most  of  the  other 
States.  The  Freemen's  on  the  other  hand,  seems  to  have  been  fashioned 
on  political  and  partisan  lines,  going  only  as  far  as  the  leaders  of  the 
party  felt  compelled  to  go,  and  no  farther.  The  main  question  of  a  prop- 
erty qualification  was  strictly  held  as  the  sheet  anchor  in  saving  the  Ship 
of  State  from  driving  on  the  shoals  or  rocks  of  full  and  equal  popular 
Sovereignty.  The  framers  treated  the  people  without  property  as  a 
dangerous  political  element,  that  could  not  be  trusted  with  the  ballot. 
This  was  and  has  been  the  burning  question  in  Rhode  Island  for  more 
than  a  half  century,  and,  admitting  equality  in  the  two  State  papers  on 
all  other  points,  the  larger  bounds  of  primary  rights  of  citizenship  raised 
the  People's  Constitution  to  the  first  position  of  statecraft. 

Tlie  27th  of  December,  1841,  and  the  two  succeeding  days  were 
selected  as  the  date  for  the  adoption  or  rejection  of  the  People's  Consti- 
tution. Each  voter  affirmed,  "I  am  an  American  Citizen  of  the  age  of 
twenty-one  years,  and  have  my  permanent  residence,  or  home,  in  this  State. 
I  am  (or  not)  qualified  to  vote  under  the  existing  laivs  of  this  State.  I 
vote  for  (or  against)  the  Constitution  formed  by  the  Convention  of  the 
people,  assembled  at  Providence,  and  zvhich  ivas  proposed  to  the  people 
by  said  Convention  on  the  iSth  day  of  November,  1841."  The  result  of 
the  ballot  on  the  People's  Constitution  showed  13,944  votes  in  favor,  and 
52  against  it,  a  clear  majority  of  13,892.  An  examination  of  the  ballots 
showed  that  4,960  freemen  and  8,984  non-freemen  had  voted  for  the 
adoption.  It  was  estimated  that  there  were  10,000  freemen  in  the  State 
and  13,000  non-freemen,  or  citizens  of  the  United  States,  not  entitled  to 
vote.  If  these  supposed  figures  were  correct,  the  People's  Constitution 
polled  69  per  cent,  of  the  non-voting  citizenship  and  lacked  half  a  hundred 
votes  of  a  majority  of  the  freemen,  and  a  clear  majority  of  nearly  4,000 
over  the  total  citizenship  of  the  State. 

In  March,  1842,  the  people  were  called  upon  to  vote  on  the  adoption 
of  the  Freemen's  Constitution.  The  number  of  votes  cast  was  16,702,  of 
which  8,013  were  in  favor,  and  8,689  against,  and  it  was  defeated  by  a 


THE  DORR  WAR  795 

majority  of  676  votes.  In  this  contest  it  appears  that  the  Suffrage  Party 
united  with  the  Charter  Party  in  opposing  the  Freemen's  Constitution, 
against  the  liberal,  or  Law  and  Order  Party,  which  favored  concessions 
to  the  people. 

In  order  to  test  the  attitude  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  on 
the  validity  of  the  People's  Constitution,  a  private  request  was  made  by 
advocates  of  a  new  constitution  for  an  opinion  thereon,  which  was  as 
follows:  "Wo  state  then,  as  our  opinion,  that  the  Convention  which 
formed  the  People's  Constitution  assembled  without  law ;  proceeded  with- 
out law ;  it  was  voted  upon  without  law,  and  that  said  Constitution  was 
without  law.  Any  attempt  to  carry  it  into  effect  by  force  would  be 
treason  against  the  State,  if  not  against  the  United  States." 

Immediately  followed  the  "Nine  Lawyers'  opinions,"  headed  by  Hon. 
Samuel  Y.  Atwell  of  Chepachet.  one  of  the  ablest  and  most  powerful 
lawyers  of  the  State,  to  reassure  the  wavering  that  the  only  difference  in 
the  two  Constitutions  legally  and  in  authority  inhered  in  their  origin,  one 
from  the  Legislature  and  the  other  from  the  Sovereign  people. 

In  March,  1842,  the  General  Assembly  met  after  the  defeat  of  the 
Freemen's  Constitution,  when  Mr.  Atwell  introduced  a  Bill  to  re-submit 
the  People's  Constitution  to  the  people  of  the  State.  "If  adopted,"  he 
said,  "it  would  be  the  law  of  the  land;  if  rejected,  there  would  be  an 
end  to  the  matter,  according  to  the  principles  of  the  suffragist  party." 
Mr.  Atwell's  bill  was  defeated,  3  to  59. 

The  General  Assembly  enacted  that  all  meetings  for  the  election  of 
State  officers  other  than  in  accord  with  State  law^s,  were  illegal  and  void, 
and  that  any  person  accepting  a  State  office  because  of  such  election  would 
be  deemed  guilty  of  treason  an<l  subject  to  imprisonment  for  life. 

The  drama  proceeds.  Fcbniary  16,  1842,  the  suffragists  held  a  con- 
vention to  nominate  a  State  ticket.  Gen.  Thomas  F.  Carpenter,  a  Demo- 
crat, was  selected  as  candidate  for  Governor,  but  he  declined  in  favor  of 
a  Whig,  Judge  Wager  Wecden.  On  April  11,  a  new  ticket  appeared  with 
Thomas  W.  Dorr  as  candidate  for  Governor;  an  election  was  held  on 
April  18,  and  in  every  case  but  one  the  general  officers  and  Senators  were 
chosen  unanimously,  receiving  6,360  votes  or  about  7,500  less  than  the 
vote  on  the  Constitution  in  1841. 

The  Charter  Election  was  held  April  20,  when  Samuel  Ward  King 
was  elected  Governor  by  4,864  votes.  He  was  opposed  by  General  Car- 
penter who  polled  2,211  votes,  as  a  regular  Democrat,  under  the  Charter. 

The  Dorr  General  Assembly  met  in  Providence,  May  3,  1842,  when 
two  military  companies,  with  muskets  loaded,  as  was  claimed  with  ball 
cartridges,  with  a  procession  of  two  thousand  civilians,  escorted  Governor 
Dorr  from  the  square  in  front  of  the  Hoyle  Tavern,  down  Westminster 


796  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

street,  across  the  Great  Bridge,  through  Benefit  and  North  Main  streets, 
passing  the  old  State  House  tzvice,  thence  to  a  foundry  building,  near  the 
comer  of  Eddy  and  Dorrance  streets  where  the  Assembly  held  its  ses- 
sions. The  State  House  was  closed  and  barricaded,  but  it  is  generally 
conceded,  that  had  Dorr  broken  over  the  barriers  and  taken  possession  of 
it  and  of  the  Arsenal,  the  success  of  the  Dorr  government  would  have 
been  assured,  as  public  sentiment  in  Providence  was  strongly  with  Gov- 
ernor Dorr,  as  was  shown  by  the  vote  on  the  People's  Constitution,  when 
1, 060  freemen  and  2,496  non-freemen  voted  for  its  adoption.  Dorr  was 
in  favor  of  capturing  the  State  House;  but  the  other  leaders  and  advisors 
thought  it  too  radical  a  measure  and  prevented  the  Governor  from  the 
act  which  would  have  enabled  him  to  possess  himself  of  the  Capitol 
and  its  archives,  among  which  was  the  Royal  Charter  and  the  Records  of 
the  State,  and  thereby  become  de  facto  Governor. 

The  General  Assembly  organized  at  the  foundry,  the  oath  of  office 
was  administered  to  66  of  80  representatives  elected  and  9  of  the  12 
Senators.  Governor  Dorr's  message  was  a  clear  and  forcible  State  paper, 
stating  the  position  and  principles  of  the  People's  Party,  and  urged 
prompt  action  in  organizing  the  militia,  the  registration  of  voters  and  the 
protection  of  the  ballot.  He  closed  by  quoting  the  constitutional  provi- 
sion that  "The  laws  should  be  made,  not  for  the  good  of  the  few,  but  of 
the  many,  and  the  burdens  of  the  State  ought  to  be  fairly  distributed 
among  its  citizens."  People's  Assembly  was  in  session  two  days,  dur- 
ing which  time  the  extremes  of  courage  and  cowardice  were  singularly 
manifest.  Traitors  to  the  Charter  Government  of  the  State,  they  dared 
to  meet  as  a  Legislature,  with  imprisonment  or  failure  staring  them  in 
the  face.  While  voting  to  demand  the  State  Records  of  the  Charter 
Secretary,  they  also  voted  by  a  large  majority  not  to  allow  their  newly 
elected  sheriff  to  take  possession  of  the  State  House  with  the  two  com- 
panies at  his  command  and  the  Charter  Government  at  that  very  hour  in 
session  at  Newport,  with  Governor  King  and  all  the  State  officials  thirty 
miles  away.  Men  who  dared  to  face  a  life  sentence  in  the  State  prison 
dared  not,  in  obedience  to  the  strong  desire  and  purpose  of  their  chosen 
leader  and  Governor,  force  a  lock  or  break  a  pane  of  window  glass  in 
the  State  House.  It  was  an  hour  that  called  for  brave  men  to  follow  a 
brave  leader.    Lowell  has  it 

"Once  to  every  man  and  nation  comes  the  moment  to  decide, 
In  the  strife  of  Truth  with  Falsehood  for  the  good  or  evil  side, 
And  the  choice  goes  by  forever  'twixt  that  darkness  and  that  light." 

On  that  4th  of  May,  1842,  the  People's  Cause  went  down  to  Defeat 
and  the  clock  of  popular  Sovereignty  was  stopped  for  many  long  years. 


THE  DORR  WAR  797 

The  Dorr  Assembly  adjourned  to  meet  on  July  4th — two  months 
away — after  a  session  of  tivo  days.  Dorr  at  once  left  the  State  on  a 
hurried  tour  to  interview  President  Tyler  at  Washington  and  secure  if 
possible  the  aid  of  the  United  States  government,  but  was  refused.  The 
Charter  .Assembly  at  Newport  also  sent  a  committee  to  Washington,  and 
obtained  a  promise  of  support  by  the  President,  in  case  military  aid  was 
needed.  This  act  seems  one  of  cowardice,  since  the  State  had  control  of 
all  the  military  organizations,  and  had  not  attempted  to  call  out  its  mili- 
tary force.  But  the  embassy  returned  with  the  President's  promise  to 
aid  the  Charter  Party  in  case  of  need. 

Governor  Dorr  returned  on  the  i6th  of  May  to  find  that  several 
members  of  the  People's  Assembly  were  under  arrest  and  that  several 
had  resigned.  The  Providence  Journal  had  declared,  "The  revolution  is 
in  a  state  of  suspended  animation.  Governor  Dorr  has  hid  or  run  away. 
Pearce  is  missing,  Sheriff  Anthony  has  absquatulated,  the  Secretary  of 
State's  office  is  over  the  line  and  their  headquarters  nobody  knows  of. 
Their  General  Assembly  has  evaporated." 

During  his  absence  from  the  State  for  twelve  days,  Governor  Dorr 
was  treated  with  high  consideration  in  Connecticut  and  in  New  York,  and 
was  especially  honored  by  Tammany  Democrats  in  New  York  City. 
Among  his  admirers  were  Samuel  J.  Tilden,  later  a  candidate  for  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  William  Cullen  Bryant  and  other  prominent 
New  Yorkers.  In  New  York  the  proposition  to  use  military  force  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  People's  Constitution  was  discussed,  growing  out 
of  promised  military  aid  to  the  Charter  Party  by  the  administration,  under 
the  advice  of  Daniel  Webster,  then  Secretary  of  State.  In  such  an  emer- 
gency, Governor  Dorr  stated  that  he  was  promised  5,000  troops  from  New 
York  to  assist  in  the  defence  of  the  People's  cause.  The  People's  Gov- 
ernor was  welcomed  on  his  return  to  Providence  by  a  crowd  of  3,000  per- 
sons and  a  procession,  in  part  of  armed  men,  escorted  him  through  the 
principal  streets  of  the  city  to  the  residence  of  Burrington  Anthony  on 
Atwells  avenue.  Before  dismissing  the  assembly,  he  made  an  address, 
judged  "well  timed  and  eloquent"  by  his  friends  and  "furious  and  in- 
flammatory" by  his  foes.  He  displayed  a  sword,  given  him  in  New  York, 
and  according  to  one  witness  the  Governor  declared  that  "that  sword  had 
been  dipped  in  blood  once,  and  rather  than  yield  the  rights  of  the  people 
of  Rhode  Island,  it  should  be  buried  in  gore  to  its  hilt."  .As  bombast 
was  not  the  Governor's  usual  style,  it  is  quite  probable  that  what  Dorr 
did  say,  that  "the  sword  had  never  been  dishonored,  and  never  would  be 
while  in  his  hands,"  was  made  very  lurid  and  bloody  by  the  imagination 
of  the  hearer.  Undoubtedly,  the  sword  meant  to  Dorr  and  his  audience 
the  probable  issue  of  the  struggle  in  bloodshed  and  civil  war,  for  in  his 


798  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

proclamation  issued  on  his  return,  he  said,  "It  has  become  my  duty  to 
say  that  as  soon  as  a  soldier  of  the  United  States  shall  be  set  in  motion 
by  whatever  direction,  to  act  against  the  people  of  this  State,  in  aid  of  the 
Charter  government,  I  shall  call  for  that  aid  to  oppose  all  such  force, 
which,  I  am  fully  authorized  to  say  will  be  immediately  and  most  cheer- 
fully tendered  to  the  services  of  the  people  of  Rhode  Island  from  the  city 
of  New  York  and  from  other  places.  The  contest  will  then  become 
national,  and  our  State  the  battleground  of  American  Freedom.  As  a 
Rhode  Island  man,  I  regret  that  the  Constitutional  question  cannot  be 
adjusted  among  our  own  citizens.  *  *  *  They  who  have  been  the 
first  to  ask  assistance  from  abroad  can  have  no  reason  to  complain  of  any 

consequences  which  may  ensue." 

****** 

The  scene  changes.  The  time  for  argument  has  passed.  An  appeal 
is  made  to  arms,  the  Gordian  knot  of  Sovereignty  is  to  be  cut — not 
untied.  The  reformation  of  political  ills  through  the  ballot  box  is  sud- 
denly changed  to  a  Revolution,  to  be  determined  by  the  bullet  and  the 
bayonet.  Twelve  days  of  absence  from  the  State  has  transformed  the 
civil  constitutional  leader  into  a  military  commander,  who  teaches  the 
manual  of  arms  to  citizen  farmers  and  store-keepers,  and  pulls  the  lan- 
yard of  disabled  cannon  in  a  foolhardy  attempt  to  capture  the  Arsenal,  the 
military  headquarters  of  the  Algerine  party,  on  Cranston  street,  Provi- 
dence. 

On  the  night  of  May  lyth,  Governor  King  called  on  the  militia  of 
Providence  to  be  ready  for  action  and  the  companies  outside  the  city  were 
ordered  to  report  in  the  city,  armed  and  equipped  for  war.  A  Council  of 
War  was  held  at  Dorr's  headquarters  on  Atwells  avenue,  early  in  the 
evening,  at  which  the  governor  declared  his  purpose  to  seize  the  Arsenal 
and  then  to  establish  barracks  in  the  college.  Having  done  this,  he  thought 
he  would  be  strong  enough  to  seize  the  armories  and  market-house.  He 
was  opposed  by  his  military  advisors,  his  relatives,  and  members  of  the 
People's  Assembly,  but  their  councils  had  no  effect  in  changing  the  gov- 
ernor's purpose.  About  midnight  a  military  company  arrived  from 
Woonsocket.  Orders  were  issued  for  an  attack  on  the  Arsenal,  the  signal 
gim  was  fired  at  twelve  o'clock,  and  before  two  o'clock  Governor  Dorr, 
at  the  head  of  234  men,  set  out  for  the  Arsenal,  which  was  garrisoned  by 
200  volunteers,  under  command  of  Colonel  Leonard  Blodgett.  A  demand 
was  made  on  the  commandant  of  the  Arsenal  to  surrender.  Colonel 
Blodgett  asked,  "In  whose  name?"  The  reply  was,  "On  the  part  of  Col- 
onel Wheeler  and  in  the  name  of  Governor  Dorr,"  to  which  Colonel 
Blodgett  replied  that  he  did  not  know  Colonel  Wheeler  or  Governor  Dorr. 
Governor  Dorr  now  gave  an  order  to  fire  on  the  arsenal.     The  guns 


THE  DORR  WAR  799 

flashed  twice,  but  no  reports.  Had  either  of  the  two  guns  discharged  a 
shot,  actual  war  would  have  begun,  as  at  the  firing  on  Sumter,  and  the 
Arsenal  would  have  replied  from  all  its  full  stores  of  cannon,  guns  and 
ammunition.  We  can  easily  surmise  what  might  have  been.  The  Dorr 
Rebellion  would  have  ended  on  Cranston  street,  Providence,  and  not  at 
Acote's  Hill,  forty  days  later. 

Dorr  brought  his  two  guns  off  the  field,  with  fifty  men  of  his  com- 
mand, at  sunrise.  The  balance  of  150  had  deserted,  and  at  eight  o'clock 
a  letter  was  handed  to  the  governor,  informing  him  that  all  the  officers 
of  his  government  in  Providence  had  resigned.  Before  nine  o'clock  of 
the  i8th  of  May,  Governor  Dorr  was  in  flight  to  Woonsocket. 

A  short  chapter  ends  the  revolutionary  career  of  Governor  Dorr. 
The  place  was  Chepachet.  The  day  of  Dorr's  arrival,  Saturday,  June  25, 
1842.  Since  his  hurried  departure  on  May  18,  the  Governor  had  divided 
his  time  in  consultation  with  his  friends  and  advisers  in  Connecticut  and 
New  York.  Acting  under  some  signal  from  the  chief,  a  large  number  of 
men  had  collected  at  this  quiet  village,  which  had  become  the  centre  of 
exciting  scenes  and  whither  had  been  brought  muskets,  ammunition  and 
several  pieces  of  artillery.  The  newspapers  reported  the  presence  of 
from  600  to  700  men.  Governor  Dorr  reported  about  200  men  fit  to 
service. 

G<^vernor  Dorr  had  decided  to  make  one  more  trial  at  arms,  and  was 
accompanied  from  New  York  with  "The  Spartan  Band"  of  about  20  men 
under  command  of  Michael  Walsh.  A  military  council  was  called  to 
determine  w'hat  action  should  be  taken.  Meanwhile  the  Dorr  forces  had 
begun  to  fortify  Acote's  Hill  by  throwing  up  earthworks  about  the  west- 
em  summit,  and  mounting  several  cannon,  commanding  the  Providence 
Turnpike,  on  the  east  and  south.  Governor  Dorr  reached  Chepachet  from 
North  Killingly,  Connecticut,  on  the  morning  of  Saturday,  June  25,  and 
was  surjjrised  to  find  his  forces  "posted  in  an  untenable  position"  on  a 
hill  80  feet  high  with  an  eminence  of  130  feet  easily  commanding  the 
situation  a  little  to  the  south.  On  Saturday,  Governor  Dorr  sent  orders 
to  all  the  towns  in  the  County  of  Providence  for  all  the  people's  militia 
"to  repair  forthwith  to  headcjuarters  for  its  defence,"  and  Sunday  was 
equally  a  day  of  arrivals  and  departures. 

The  Law  and  Order  or  Charter  government  leader.  Governor  King, 
learning  of  the  gathering  of  Dorr  followers  at  Chepachet,  ordered  the 
militia  companies  of  the  State  which  had  been  in  training  for  more  than 
a  month,  to  report  within  two  or  three  days  at  Providence.  On  Saturday 
afternoon,  1,600  men  were  reviewed  on  Smith's  (now  Capitol")  Ilill,  and 
it  was  estimated  that  2,500  men  w'ith  muskets  and  ammunition  were 
quartered  in  the  city,  that  night.    Sunday,  June  26,  added  to  the  Charter 


8oo  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

forces  at  least  500  men,  the  army  numbering  from  3,000  to  4,000  men, 
being  in  command  of  Major  General  William  Gibbs  McNeil,  who  had 
headquarters  at  the  Tockwotton  House,  India  Point,  Providence.  Sun- 
day and  Monday  passed  and  the  army  was  in  camp  in  Providence  and 
neighborhood,  awaiting  orders  to  move  on  the  enemy's  works  at  Che- 
pachet,  the  advance  guard  under  Colonel  William  W.  Brown,  with  497 
men,  occupying  Greenville,  within  eight  miles  of  the  seat  of  war,  and  equi- 
distant from  Providence.  Monday  night,  all  was  bustle  in  the  Charter 
camp  and  the  advance  at  Greenville  was  ordered  to  move  at  once  to  Che- 
pachet.  Using  great  caution  and  moving  evidently  under  fear  of  flank 
attacks  from  the  woods  or  behind  the  walls  on  the  road,  Colonel  Brown 
reached  Acote's  Hill,  Tuesday  morning,  June  28,  about  eight  o'clock, 
having  covered  a  march  of  eight  miles  in  twelve  hours — a  most  remark- 
able feat  of  military  timidity,  stolidity,  and  immobility. 

Before  night  on  Tuesday,  the  people  of  Providence  read  on  the  bul- 
letin board  of  the  Journal,  Military  order  No.  54. 

The  village  of  Chepachet  and  fort  of  the  insurgents  were  stormed 
at  quarter  before  eight  o'clock  this  morning,  and  taken  with  about  one 
hundred  prisoners  by  Colonel  William  W.  Brown;  none  killed  and  no 
one  wounded. 

It  is  difficult  to  prevent  one's  pen  from  running  off  into  facetious 
frolicking  over  this  grandiloquent  military  order  and  report,  when  the 
facts  are  stated.  Governor  Dorr  found  on  Monday  that  his  expected 
supporters  had  deserted  him  and  that  his  trusted  friends  had  denotmced 
his  military  plans  and  had  joined  the  Charter  ranks.  He  saw  around  him 
a  group  of  devoted  followers,  farmers  and  mechanics  mostly,  who  were 
not  bent  on  war  or  on  offering  themselves  as  sacrifices  for  the  i>eople's 
cause,  then  in  such  a  hopeless  case.  To  them  "Discretion  was  the  better 
part  of  valor,"  remembering  the  couplet, 

"He  that  fights  and  runs  away 
Will  live  to  fight  another  day; 
But  he  who  is  in  battle  slain, 
Will  never  rise  to  fight  again." 

In  the  afternoon  of  Monday,  Governor  Dorr  saw  the  utter  hopeless- 
ness of  a  duel  at  arms  and  sent  a  letter  to  Walter  S.  Burgess,  in  Provi- 
dence, in  which  he  wrote,  "Believing  that  a  majority  of  the  people  who 
voted  for  the  Constitution  are  opposed  to  its  further  support  by  military 
means,  I  have  directed  that  the  military  here  assembled  be  dismissed." 
*  *  *  "Since  the  people  have  deserted  us,  whether  from  cowardice 
or  otherwise,  and  gone  over  to  the  enemy,  giving  them  the  majority,  we 
ought  not  to  contend  longer ;  it  would  be  a  faction  against  the  majority." 


THE  DORR  WAR  Soi 

That  letter  was  sent  by  special  messenger  from  Cliepachet  to  Providence 
where  it  was  received  at  seven  in  the  evening.  It  was  at  once  communi- 
cated to  Governor  King  and  Genera!  McNeil,  when  the  Law  and  Order 
forces  were  ordered  to  move  and  capture  Acote's  Hill.  Meanwhile  Gov- 
ernor Dorr  had  driven  to  Connecticut  and  the  men  of  his  command  had 
scattered  in  all  directions  at  least  twelve  hours  before  Colonel  Brown  and 
his  Charter  braves  entered  the  village  with  fife  and  drum,  to  disturb  the 
cows  grazing  in  the  pastures  of  Chcpachet,  to  meet  a  cold  reception  by 
the  people  of  Gloucester,  who  in  the  main  were  Dorrites,  or  sympathizers 
with  the  People's  cause. 

"The  King  of  France  with  twenty  thousand  men  •    ' 

Marched  up  the  hill  and  then — marched  down  again."  ' 

So  did  the  courageous  and  valorous  troops  who  were  suddenly  in- 
spired with  courage  after  they  had  found  that  Dorr  had  thrown  down  his 
sword  and  fled  the  State. 

Governor  King  ofYcred  a  reward  of  five  thousand  dollars  for  the 
delivery  of  Thomas  Wilson  Dorr  to  the  sheriffs  of  Rhode  Island  within 
three  months ;  martial  law  was  proclaimed  throughout  the  State ;  indis- 
criminate arrests  were  made  and  a  reign  of  terror  prevailed.  \o  man 
suspected  of  Dorr  sympathies  was  safe  from  seizure  by  the  ofificers  of  the 
law,  who  used  little  discretion  in  their  wholesale  acts  of  petty  tyranny 
and  hatred,  and  there  is  not  the  shadow  of  justification  of  the  malevolent 
persecution  of  the  members  of  the  People's  party,  by  the  Algerine  officers 
of  the  law.  Dorr  was  politically  dead,  as  was  his  party.  The  People's 
Constitution  was  also  a  corpse,  awaiting  burial.  The  just  course  was  to 
pardon  all  political  ofYenders  and  to  treat  the  members  of  the  defeated 
political  party  with  clemency,  but  party  spirit  ran  so  high  and  the  passions 
of  men  had  been  so  aroused,  that  a  spirit  of  revenge  ruled  camp  and 
court,  and  safety  for  many  men  and  families  was  only  found  in  Massachu- 
setts or  Connecticut.  Governor  Dorr,  broken  in  his  hopes,  and  deserted 
by  his  followers,  took  refuge  in  New  Hampshire  until  October  31.  1843, 
when  he  returned  to  Providence,  was  immediately  arrested  and  lodged  in 
the  Providence  jail,  where  he  remained  until  his  trial  for  the  crime  of 
treason  against  the  State  of  Rhode  Island,  before  the  Supreme  Court, 
sitting  at  Newport,  February  29,  1844.  .At  two  o'clock  a.  m.,  on  May  7, 
1844,  the  jury  brought  in  a  verdict  of  "guilty  of  treason"  against  Gov- 
ernor Dorr;  a  motion  for  a  new  trial  was  entered,  arguments  were  heard, 
and  on  June  25,  the  Supreme  Court,  having  denied  the  request,  pronounced 
the  following  sentence :  "That  the  said  Thomas  Wilson  Dorr  be  impris- 
oned in  the  State  Prison  at  Providence,  for  the  term  of  his  natural  life  and 

R  1—51 


8o2  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

there  kept  at  hard  labor  in  separate  confinement."  It  is  difficult  to  repress 
profane  adjectives  in  reading  the  sentence  pronounced  by  Chief  Justice 
Durfee,  and  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  our  respect  for  men  admin- 
istering justice  in  our  courts  is  not  strengthened  by  a  sentence  which 
carried  with  it  the  temper  and  the  methods  of  the  Inquisition.  Twenty 
years  later,  President  Jefferson  Davis,  and  General  R.  E.  Lee,  and  hund- 
reds of  thousands  of  Confederate  soldiers,  who  fought  for  four  long 
years  to  destroy  the  best  government  under  the  sun,  costing  rivers  of 
blood  and  oceans  of  money,  were  never  adjudged  guilty  of  any  crime — 
one  only  suffered  confinement,  and  that  for  a  brief  period  as  a  military 
prisoner  at  Fortress  Monroe,  with  comforts  and  luxuries  he  had  not 
known  since  he  undertook  the  task  of  destroying  the  American  Union. 

It  is  not  strange  that  sympathy  for  Governor  Dorr  as  a  martyr  in  a 
-just  cause  was  aroused  by  his  trial  and  sentence,  in  ihe  minds  of  all  fair- 
minded  men  of  both  parties  in  Rhode  Island.  The  old  loyalty  to  the 
Governor  was  awakened,  and  even  the  Charter  party  recognized  the  un- 
fairness of  the  methods  used  in  his  trial.  In  January,  1845,  an  Act  of 
Amnesty  passed  the  General  Assembly,  provided  Governor  Dorr  would 
make  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  State,  which 
he  refused  to  do.  At  the  April  election,  Charles  Jackson,  the  liberation 
candidate  for  governor,  was  elected  over  James  Fenner,  the  Law  and 
Order  candidate  and  then  governor,  and  by  an  Act  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly at  the  June  session  at  Newport,  Governor  Dorr  was  made  a  free  man, 
on  the  27th  of  June,  1845,  just  one  year  from  the  day  that  the  doors  of 
the  State  Prison  at  Providence  closed  on  him,  in  1844.  Governor  Dorr 
was  unconditionally  restored  to  his  civil  rights  in  1851,  and  three  years 
later  the  General  Assembly  invaded  the  sacred  precincts  of  judicial  deci- 
sions and  decreed,  "That  the  judgment  against  Thomas  Wilson  Dorr  be 
hereby  repealed,  reversed,  annulled  and  declared  to  be  as  if  it  had  never 
been  rendered."  The  Clerk  of  the  Supreme  Court  for  the  County  of 
Newport  was  ordered  "to  write  across  the  face  of  the  record  of  said 
judgment  the  words  'Reversed  and  Annulled  by  order  of  the  General 
Assembly  at  their  January  Session,  A.  D.,  1854.'  "  Tlie  Act  passed  the 
House  of  Representatives  by  a  vote  of  39  to  18.  Governor  Dorr,  broken 
in  health,  worn  out  in  mind  and  body  in  defence  of  the  rights  of  the 
people,  vindicated  as  far  as  the  popular  voice  and  the  General  Assembly 
could  do  it,  survived  the  remarkable  Act  of  the  State  Legislature  but  ten 
months,  and  on  December  27,  1854,  he  died  in  the  Dorr  mansion,  on 
Benefit  street.  Providence,  where  he  first  opened  his  eyes  to  the  light  49 
years,  i  month  and  22  days  before.  He  lived  to  see  the  adoption  of  a 
State   Constitution,   more    liberal    in   some   important   respects   than    the 


THE  DORR  WAR  803 

People's.  The  word  "white"  did  not  appear.  Tlic  property  qualification 
for  voting  on  matters  relating  to  taxation  or  the  expenditure  of  moneys 
was  practically  the  same:  the  registry  tax  did  not  appear  in  the  People's, 
while  it  did  in  the  Con.stitution  of  1843,  iiiKkr  which  we  have  lived  for 
70  years.  From  present  evidence  it  appears  that  the  Convention  of  1843 
aimed  to  incorporate  in  the  new  State  paper,  as  far  as  practicable,  all 
that  the  People's  party  had  demanded.  Its  framers  had  certainly  seen 
the  handwriting  on  the  wall  which  proclaimed  the  doom  of  the  Freemen's 
party  and  the  incoming  of  a  liberal  and  progressive  government. 

The  length  of  this  chapter  forbids  a  review  of  Governor  Dorr's  char- 
acter and  life,  or  of  a  consideration  of  the  legal  and  constitutional  ques- 
tions involved  in  the  several  phases  of  the  Dorr  Revolution.  It  only 
remains  for  me  to  state  a  few  of  the  leading  characteristics  of  the  man 
and  of  his  career. 

Let  me  allow  his  most  bitter  and  stoutest  enemy,  Hon.  Henry  B. 
Anthony,  the  editor  of  the  Providence  Journal,  to  pronounce  his  most 
eloquent  eulogium.  "He  was  a  man  endowed  with  intellectual  powers, 
which  had  they  been  rightly  directed,  would  have  secured  him  command- 
ing influence.  Those  powers,  too,  were  disciplined  by  an  education  more 
accomplished  perhaps  than  any  other  man  of  his  age  in  Rhode  Island  had 
been  privileged  to  obtain.  As  a  man  of  science  and  letters,  he  might 
have  attained  honorable  distinction,  had  he  chosen  to  dedicate  his  time 
to  science  or  to  letters.  As  a  statesman  he  might  have  rendered  his  native 
State  substantial  service.  He  might  have  been  a  true-hearted,  private 
gentleman,  honored  by  the  respect  and  confidence  of  the  community  in 
which  he  resided." 

A  similar  eulogium  was  pronounced  on  Wendell  Phillips  and  Charles 
Sumner  of  Massachusetts,  who  might  have  been  great  in  so  many  depart- 
ments of  service,  but  who  chose  the  cause  of  the  oppressed,  and,  in 
losing  their  lives,  saved  them.  Governor  Dorr  might  have  been  a  leader 
in  the  Freemen's  party,  or  achieved  other  honors  as  Governor  Anthony 
honestly  declared,  but  he  chose  the  path  Difficulty  in  the  name  and  for 
the  sake  of  the  great  body  of  unrecognized  men,  whose  rights  had  been 
so  long  refused  by  the  rulers  of  the  State.  He  counted  the  probable  cost 
of  the  struggle,  but  he  withheld  no  sacrifice,  even  though  at  the  end  he 
was  despised  and  rejected  by  his  own  followers,  and  finally  adjudged  a 
traitor  to  his  native  state. 

Governor  Dorr  was,  above  all,  a  Christian  statesman,  recognizing 
that  higher  law,  superior  to  human,  to  which  men,  institutions  and  con- 
stitutions must  ultimately  yield  obedience.  In  proof,  let  me  quote  Dorr's 
definition  of  The  Doctrine  of  Sorcreignty: 


8o4  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

There  is  One  over  all,  God  blessed  forever;  and  under  him  the 
People  are  sovereign.  His  Revealed  Word  is  the  higher  law,  to  whose 
principles  and  rules  of  action  recourse  is  had  by  the  framers  of  Consti- 
tutions &  by  legislators,  to  impart  justice  and  equity  to  political  institu- 
tions. The  application  of  these  principles  &  rules  to  the  Constitutions 
and  legislative  acts  of  States,  and  to  men  in  their  political  relations,  is 
what  has  been  called  the  democracy  of  Christianity.  Rights  are  the  gift 
of  God.  The  definition  and  protection  of  them  are  the  objects  of  just 
government. 

Providence,  R.  I.,  Aug.  loth,  1853. 

Tho's.  W.  Dorr. 

Eighty  years  ago,  no  citizen  of  this  commonwealth  was  a  freeman 
and  had  a  share  in  the  affairs  of  State,  unless  he  was  owner  in  fee  simple 
of  real  estate.  We  were  a  landed  aristocracy,  masciuerading  as  a  democ- 
racy. To-day  all  males  are  titled  freemen,  with  the  single  exception  of 
the  registry  voter,  an  anomaly  in  a  free  State  and,  pray  God,  soon  to  be 
expunged  from  the  statutes  of  a  sovereign  people  of  a  sovereign  state.  In 
the  midst  of  many  eminent  men  of  the  century  straggles,  Thomas  Wilson 
Dorr  stands  preeminent  as  leader  and  expounder  of  the  doctrine  of 
human  rights.  Of  senatorial  rank,  he  fought  the  plebeian  battle.  His 
war-cry  was  "TIic  Right  of  Suffrage  is  the  Guardian  of  our  Liberties." 
In  the  success  of  the  people's  contest.  Dorr  never  lost  heart  or  hope.  In 
the  darkest  hour  of  his  life,  on  trial  before  a  court,  from  which  he  could 
expect  naught  but  the  extortion  of  "the  pound  of  fiesh,"  deserted  by  his 
party,  an  alien  to  many  of  his  family  circle,  the  victim  of  implacable 
enmities,  personal,  political  and  judicial,  about  to  receive  sentence  for  life, 
for  the  most  detestable  crime  known  among  civilized  men — TREASON — 
Thomas  Wilson  Dorr  stands  erect  in  the  nobility  of  an  enfranchised 
manhood  and  declares  to  a  hostile  court  and  a  cordon  of  officials,  repre- 
senting a  merciless  public,  and  utters  the  grand  words  of  innocent  con- 
fession, now  writ  in  imperishable  bronze  on  yonder  tablet,  "/  stand  before 
yon,  with  the  greatest  confidence  in  the  final  verdict  of  my  country." 
Brave  soul,  you  wrote  your  own  sublime  epitaph.  By  your  attitude  and 
words  you  won  a  place  among  Earth's  immortals,  zvho  lived  to  die,  and 
died  to  live  for  the  common  people,  downtrodden  and  enslaved.  Among 
them  are  Abraham  Lincoln  and  John  Brown  and  Charles  Sumner  and 
William  Lloyd  Garrison  and  Ulysses  S.  Grant  and  Joseph  Warren  and 
George  Washington  and  Robert  Emmett  and  Marco  Bozzaris  and  Wil- 
liam of  Orange  and  Harry  Vane  and  Duke  of  Argyle  and  Martin  Luther 
and  Savonarola  and  Socrates  and  Paul,  all  leading  up  to  and  followers 
of  the  matchless  man  of  Nazareth. 

The  State  of  Rhode  Island  has  set  its  enduring  seal  of  approbation 
on  the  public  acts  of  Governor  Thomas  Wilson  Dorr,  and  through  her 


THE  DORR  WAR  805 

Exccurive  received  and  adopted  the  dedication  and  verdict  of  our 
twentieth  century  public.  Acote's  Hill,  the  scene  of  Dorr's  final  civic 
defeat,  became  the  centre  of  his  public  recognition  and  exaltation,  and 
hill  and  monument  will  forever  testify  to  the  ready  homage  of  the  people 
for  men,  who  Dare  to  Do  Right! 

In  my  mind's  eye  I  have  another  vision,  the  year  is  1942,  the  place, 
the  west  front  of  the  Capitol,  on  Capitol  Hill,  Providence.  Two  colossal 
statues  stand  on  marble  pediments  on  either  side  of  the  marble  stairway. 
The  one  on  the  left,  as  you  ajiproach  is  the  figure  of  the  great  diplomat- 
statesman,  author  of  the  Royal  Cliarter  of  1663 — the  most  comprehensive 
chart  of  free  goveninicnt  ever  drawn  by  mortal  man — that  man  is  Dr. 
John  Clarke  of  Newport.  On  the  right  stands  the  bronze  figure  of 
human  rights  as  incorporated  in  that  ancient  instrument,  the  Royal  Charter, 
presenting  and  rei)rcscnting  the  great  Commoner  of  Rhode  Island,  not 
as  a  debater  of  privilege,  not  as  the  leader  of  a  forlorn  hope,  but  as  the 
triumphal  victor  in  the  conquest  of  Truth  over  enthroned  Falsehood,  and 
of  enfranchised  Liberty — for  all  men  and  women,  in  a  Republic,  small 
in  area,  but  great  in  principle — that  colossal  figure  shall  bear  on  its  shin- 
ing shield  the  name  of  Thomas  Wilson  Dorr. 

"We  tell  thy  Doom  without  .a  sigh. 

For  thou  art  Freedom's  now.  and  Fame's ; 
One  of  the  few,  immortal  names. 
That  were  not  born  to  die." 

"For  humanity  sweeps  onward; 
Where  to-day  the  martyr  stands 
On  the  morrow  crouches  Judas, 
With  the  gold  dust  in  his  hands; 

While  the  hooting  mob  of  yesterday 

In  silent  awe  returns 
To  glean  tlie  sacred  ashes, 

For  history's  golden  urn." 


CHAPTER  XXXVII 


THE  CIVIL  WAR 


M.i;  ARSENAL,  BENEFIT  SIKKhl 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 
THE  CIVIL  WAR. 

On  Friday,  .A.pril  12,  1861,  at  4.20  o'clock  in  the  morning,  Brig.-Gen. 
Pierre  G.  T.  Beauregard,  commanding  the  Confederate  batteries  in 
Charleston  Harbor,  South  Carolina,  fired  the  first  gun  of  the  Civil  War. 
The  shot,  from  a  mortar  on  Sullivan's  Island,  struck  Fort  Sumter,  then  in 
possession  of  United  States  troops  under  command  of  Major  Robert 
Anderson.  This  event  was  the  first  overt  act  against  the  Federal  gov- 
ernment, and  opened  the  great  interstate  contest  in  arms  known  in 
history  as  the  Civil  War.  This  war  of  armed  forces  of  the  Federal  and 
Confederate  States  ended  on  Sunday,  April  9,  1865,  at  .Appomattox  Court 
House,  \'irginia,  when  Maj.-Gen.  Robert  E.  Lee,  commanding  the  Con- 
federate armies,  surrendered  the  Army  of  Northern  \'irginia  to  Lieut. - 
Gen.  LHysses  S.  Grant,  commander-in-chief  of  the  armies  of  tlie  Federal 
States. 

Prior  to  the  war,  a  long  social  and  civil  contest  had  existed  as  to  the 
perpetuation  and  extension  of  the  institution  of  chattel  slavery  within 
the  l-'ederal  Lnion,  under  the  protection  of  the  constitution  and  laws  of 
the  United  States.  The  issue  of  the  extension  of  negro  slavery  was  made 
by  the  organization  of  the  Republican  party  in  1856.  Its  platform  declared 
positively  against  the  creation  of  any  new  slaveholding  territorj',  with  the 
gradual  extinction  of  slavery  in  slaveholding  States,  while  the  growing 
.\bolition  party  advocated  and  worked  for  its  si)eedy  removal  from  all 
the  Slavery  States.  The  large  popular  vote  for  John  C.  Fremont  for 
President  in  1856  was  a  revelation  to  the  country  of  the  judgment  of  the 
electors.  Rhode  Island  gave  Fremont.  Republican.  11,647  votes; 
Buchanan,  Democrat,  (},68o  votes;  and  Fillmore,  American,  1,675.  In 
the  Electoral  College,  Buchanan  received  174  votes  to  114  for  Fremont. 

The  Dred  Scott  case,  on  the  other  hand,  revealed  what  seemed  the 
impotency  of  the  Federal  constitution,  in  that  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  decided  that  a  slave  was  not  a  citizen,  had  no  standing  in 
the  courts,  and  was  only  property  under  the  same  protection  as  any  other 
personal  property.  At  the  same  time,  every  slave  was  counted  as  three- 
fifths  of  a  man  by  Art.  I,  Sec.  2,  of  the  United  States  Constitution.  This 
decision  aroused  the  anti-slavery  forces  to  action  to  avert  the  dangers 
consequent  on  such  a  verdict. 

In  furtherance  of  the  purposes  of  the  slave-holding  States,  now  vir- 
tually in  control  of  the  Federal  government,  the  Kansas-Xebraska  Bill 
was  passed  by  both  Houses  of  Congress,  and  made  a  law  by  the  signature 


8io  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

of  James  Buchanan,  President  of  the  United  States,  and  the  subject  tool 
of  the  Slave  States.  This  Bill  repealed  the  Missouri  Compromise  of 
1820,  which  forbade  forever  the  opening  to  slavery  any  of  the  Louisiana 
Purchase  north  of  36°  30'.  By  it  the  great  territories  of  Kansas  and 
Nebraska  were  opened  to  the  entrance  of  slavery,  and  the  Slave  States 
at  once  began  a  migration  and  a  propaganda  for  creating  two  Slave  States 
north  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line.  The  war  was  now  on  between  the 
anti-slavery  and  the  slavery  forces  of  the  nation,  and  blood  was  shed  and 
violence  held  sway  in  Kansas  and  Nebraska  and  all  along  their  eastern 
borders.  The  administration  of  James  Buchanan  was  a  shameless  sub- 
mission of  executive  authority  to  the  slave  powers  of  the  Southern  States, 
and  it  is  not  strange  that  the  Free  States  of  the  North  became  alarmed 
and  aroused  to  avert  the  threatening  encroachments  on  Federal  guar- 
antees of  freedom  and  true  Democracy.  Mrs.  Stowe's  "LTncle  Tom's 
Cabin,"  Helper's  "Impending  Crisis,"  Seward's  "Irrepressible  Conflict," 
Sumner's  burning  arraignment  of  the  "Crimes  of  the  Slave  Oligarchy," 
and  John  Brown's  raid  on  Harper's  Ferry,  were  agents  of  awakening  the 
conscience,  the  intelligence  and  the  will  of  the  North  to  curb  the  slave 
power.  At  the  same  time  they  widened  the  breach  between  the  North  and 
the  South,  and  stirred  the  hot  blood  of  the  defenders  of  slavery  to 
threaten  the  disunion  of  the  States,  and  to  advocate  it  openly  in  our 
National  Congress. 

In  November,  i860,  Abraham  Lincoln,  of  Illinois,  Republican,  was 
elected  President  of  the  United  States,  receiving  180  electoral  votes 
against  72  for  John  C.  Breckenbridge,  candidate  of  the  Southern  Demo- 
crats ;  39  for  John  Bell,  Constitutional  Union ;  and  12  for  Stephen  A. 
Douglas,  Northern  Democrat.  Within  thirty  days  of  the  presidential 
election  of  i860,  constructive  secession  from  the  Federal  Union  began, 
its  treasonable  content  enveloped  in  the  specious  doctrine  of  States  rights, 
as  maintained  by  John  C.  Calhoun  and  his  school.  The  State  of  South 
Carolina,  the  home  of  Calhoun,  led  the  way  in  the  procession  of  would-be- 
outgoing  States  by  a  yea  vote  in  its  convention  of  169,  with  not  a  single 
negative  voice,  on  the  20th  of  December,  i860.  Alabama,  Florida  and 
Louisiana  followed  in  the  same  month ;  Georgia  voted  to  secede  on  Jan- 
uary 9,  1861,  by  a  vote  of  208  yeas  to  89  nays;  then  came  Mississippi, 
84  to  15,  and  Texas,  166  to  7.  Virginia,  as  late  as  April  4,  by  a  vote  of 
89  to  45,  voted  not  to  secede;  and  Missouri,  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  Mary- 
land and  Delaware  followed  Virginia's  example,  and  on  February  4, 
when  a  convention  of  States  endorsing  secession  met  at  Montgomery, 
Alabama,  seven  States  united  in  the  movement,  while  eight  slave-holding 
States  and  the  District  of  Columbia  refused  to  enter  the  coalition  at  that 
time. 


THE  CIVIL  WAR.  8il 

On  March  4,  1861,  Abraham  Lincoln  was  inaugurated  as  President  of 
thirt)'-four  States  in  the  Federal  Union.  In  his  inaugural  address  he 
said,  "In  your  hands,  my  dissatisfied  fellow  countrymen,  and  not  in  mine 
is  the  momentous  issue  of  Civil  War.  The  Government  will  not  assail 
you.  *  *  *  We  are  not  enemies,  but  friends.  We  must  not  be 
enemies.  Though  passion  may  have  strained,  it  must  not  break  our  bonds 
of  affection."  To  an  eloquent  plea  for  deliberation  and  the  e.xercise  of 
intelligence,  patriotism  and  Christian  forbearance,  Mr.  Lincoln  added  the 
statesman's  conception  of  the  Union  of  States  as  indissoluble.  "Seces- 
sion," he  said,  "is  not  tlie  dissolution  of  a  league,  but  a  treasotiable  though 
futile  effort  to  disorganise  and  destroy  a  nation." 

The  seven  rebellious  States  that  had  adopted  acts  of  secession  in 
convention  in  Alabama,  in  February,  organized  under  the  title  of  "The 
Confederate  States  of  America,"  and  elected  Jefferson  Davis,  of  Missis- 
sippi, as  Provisional  President.  The  first  overt  act  of  revolution  of  this 
Confederacy  was  the  bombardment  of  Fort  Sumter,  on  April  12,  1861, 
and  its  surrender  after  a  thirty  hours'  siege.  By  that  attack  the  Civil  War 
was  inaugurated.  On  both  sides  of  the  issue  it  was  confidently  predicted 
that  the  contest  would  be  brief.  The  South  was  confident  of  winning  in 
a  few  months,  on  the  assumption  that  the  "Yanks''  (as  the  Northerners 
were  contemptuously  called)  would  not  fight;  while  Mr.  Seward,  Secre- 
tary of  State  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  Cabinet,  deliberately  declared  that  the  war 
would  end  in  ninety  days.  In  answer  to  the  challenge  of  war,  President 
Lincoln,  on  the  15th  of  April,  issued  a  call  to  the  States  for  seventy-five 
thousand  men  to  serve  three  months,  to  quell  the  treasonable  spirit  and 
acts  of  the  Confederate  States. 

While  all  of  the  Northern  States  responded  promptly  to  the  call, 
Rhode  Island  was  among  the  first  to  send  a  regiment  of  men  to  Wash^ 
ington,  under  the  command  of  Col.  Ambrose  E.  Burnside  and  Lieut  -Col. 
Joseph  S.  Pitman.  This  .State  was  most  fortunate  in  a  War  Governor, 
who  was  young,  insjiired  with  a  deep  patriotism,  and  withal  wealthy, 
ready  to  advance  funds  from  his  own  purse  for  war  purposes  and  to 
volunteer  his  own  services  to  the  country  at  the  war  front.  For  such 
unstinted  contributions  to  the  State  and  Nation  in  the  hour  of  greatest 
peril,  the  name  of  William  Sprague  will  stand  among  the  first  on  the  roll 
of  honor  of  Rhode  Island  worthies. 

The  First  Rhode  Island  Regiment  left  Providence  on  the  20th  of 
April,  and  on  the  arrival  of  the  two  detachments  at  Washington  a  few 
days  later,  the  regiment  entered  on  army  drill  at  Camp  Sprague,  near  the 
city.  On  the  loth  of  June  the  regiment  marched  to  Williamsport,  Mary- 
land, to  join  other  forces  to  dislodge  the  rebels  under  Gen.  Joseph  E. 
Johnson,  from  Harper's  Ferry.    On  the  evacuation  of  Harper's  Ferry  by 


8i2  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

the  Confederates,  the  regiment  returned  to  camp,  Jime  20,  without  seeing 
the  forces  of  the  enemy. 

Early  in  July,  Union  forces  had  arrived  at  Washington  in  numbers 
sufficient  to  warrant  a  forward  movement  to  meet  the  Confederates  gath- 
ering at  Manassas  and  threatening  the  National  Capital.  On  the  i6th  of 
July  the  Union  Army,  made  up  of  35.000  men,  eleven  batteries  of  artil- 
lery and  four  companies  of  cavalry,  crossed  the  Potomac  and  moved 
southward  to  meet  the  enemy.  While  the  troops  were  in  camp  at  Wash- 
ington, Col.  Burnside  had  been  promoted  to  the  command  of  a  brigade 
comprising  four  regiments,  including  th-e  First  Rhode  Island  and  one 
battery.  The  Union  Army  of  brave  but  undisciplined  and  unseasoned 
men,  met  the  Confederate  Army  of  equally  brave  and  undisciplined  men, 
in  battle  array  at  Manassas,  Virginia,  thirty  miles  southwest  of  Wash- 
ington, on  Sunday,  July  21,  1861.  Here  was  fought  the  first  bloody  battle 
of  the  Civil  War,  known  as  the  battle  of  Bull  Run.  The  Union  army 
was  under  the  command  of  Gen.  Irwin  McDowell,  directed  from  Wash- 
ington by  Lieut. -Gen.  Winfield  Scott.  The  Confederates  were  under  the 
command  of  Gen.  James  Longstreet.  After  a  day's  hard  fighting,  in 
which  Burnside's  brigade  had  borne  a  generous  share,  the  Union  troops, 
unsupported  by  reserves  and  unable  to  meet  the  fresh  soldiers  of  the 
rebel  army,  gave  way  in  a  general  retreat,  which  terminated  in  a  dis- 
astrous panic. 

The  Second  Regiment  of  Rhode  Island  Volunteers,  enlisted  for  three 
years  or  the  war,  which  left  Providence  on  June  19,  1861,  under  com- 
mand of  Col.  John  S.  Slocum,  with  Lieut. -Col.  Frank  Wheaton,  and 
Maj.  Sullivan  Ballon,  was  one  of  the  four  regiments  in  Col.  Burnside's 
brigade,  and  marched  to  the  battle  front  at  Bull  Run,  leading  the  column. 
Battery  A,  First  Rhode  Island  Light  Artillery,  under  command  of  Capt. 
William  H.  Reynolds,  under  Burnside,  was  ordered  to  open  the  attack 
on  the  right,  continuing  the  fire  for  forty-five  minutes  without  support. 
Capt.  Reynolds  fought  with  great  vigor  and  effect,  losing  two  men  killed 
and  fourteen  wounded.  Lieut.  W.  B.  Weeden  had  a  horse  shot  under 
him.  One  gun,  being  out  of  ammimition,  was  sent  to  the  rear,  was  saved 
and  later  presented  to  Governor  Sprague,  and  by  him  to  the  State.  This 
gun,  with  another  from  the  Gettysburg  battlefield,  with  a  ball  wedged  in 
the  muzzle,  are  preserved  as  memorials  of  the  war  in  the  capitol  at  Prov- 
idence. The  Second  Rhode  Island  sufi'ered  severely,  losing  28  killed,  56 
wounded  and  30  missing.  Among  the  slain  were  Col.  Slocum,  Maj.  Bal- 
lon, and  Capt.  Levi  A.  Tower  and  Samuel  J.  Smith.  Governor  Sprague 
was  on  the  field  all  day,  and  had  two  horses  shot  under  him.  Of  the 
First  Rhode  Island  Regiment,  Lieut.  Henry  A.  Prescott  fell,  leading  his 
men  in  battle.     This  regiment,  its  term  of  enlistment  having  expired,  re- 


THE  CIVIL  WAR.  813 

turned  to  Providence,  Sunday,  July  28,  and  was  muslered  out  on  August 
2.  Many  of  tlie  men  enlisted  in  later  regiments  for  the  war.  Chaplains 
Rev.  Augustus  Woodbury,  Rev.  Thomas  Quinn  and  Surgeon  Francis  L. 
Wheaton,  were  efficient  officers  in  instructing  and  encouraging  the  men, 
in  camp,  hosjMtal,  and  on  the  field  of  action.  The  only  engagement  of  this 
regiment  was  in  Burnside's  brigade,  in  the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  Sunday, 
July  21,  i86i.  High  honors  should  be  accorded  to  all  the  men  of  the 
First  Rhode  Island  Regiment  of  Volunteers  for  prompt  action  in  reply  to 
their  country's  call  in  the  hour  of  its  great  peril.  It  was  the  answer  of 
untrained  citizen  militia  to  stand  in  the  breach  until  a  body  of  trained  and 
disciplined  men  should  take  their  places.  The  service  was  brief,  but 
vital  in  the  defence  of  the  Capitol  and  the  Nation. 

The  Second  Regiment  Rhode  Island  Volunteers  reached  Washing- 
ton, June  23.  1861,  and  was  mustered  out  of  the  United  States  service  at 
Hall's  Hill,  Virginia,  July  13,  1865.  Its  first  colonel,  John  S.  Slocum, 
was  an  officer  of  great  courage,  who  had  gained  a  rejnilation  as  a  good 
soldier  in  the  Mexican  W'ar.  He  was  promoted  from  the  rank  of  major 
in  the  First  Rhode  Island  Regiment  to  the  command  of  the  Second  Regi- 
ment. This  regiment  rendered  brilliant  service  in  the  battle  of  Bull 
Run,  where  it  lost  about  fifteen  per  cent,  of  its  men,  including  four  chief 
officers.  On  the  death  of  Col.  Slocum,  the  command  fell  to  Lieut. -Col. 
Frank  Wlieaton,  and  after  his  promotion  to  the  command  of  a  brigade,  it 
devolved  on  Nelson  Viall  and  last  on  Horatio  Rogers,  Jr.  Frank  Wheat- 
on, W.  H.  P.  Steere,  Nelson  Viall,  Nathan  Goflf,  Jr.,  Samuel  B.  M.  Read 
and  Elisha  H.  Rhodes  held  the  office  of  lieutenant-colonel  in  the  order 
named. 

The  regiment  was  assigned  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  with  which 
it  remained  during  the  war.  The  battles  in  which  it  bore  a  conspicuous 
and  valorous  part  were  inscribed  on  the  colors,  as  follows :  First  Bull 
Run,  Yorktown,  Williamsburg,  Malvern  Hill,  Antietam,  Fredericksburg, 
Marye's  Heights,  Salem  Heights,  Gettysburg,  Rappahannock  Station, 
Wilderness,  Spottsylvania,  Cold  Harbor,  Petersburg,  Fort  Stevens,  Ope- 
quan.  Hatcher's  Run,  Sailor's  Creek,  Appomattox. 

Maj.  Henry  H.  Young,  chief  of  scouts  to  Maj.-Gen.  Sheridan,  whose 
statue  in  bronze  has  been  erected  in  the  park  in  front  of  the  railroad  sta- 
tion at  Providence,  was  an  officer  of  this  regiment.  By  general  consent, 
the  Second  Rhode  Island  was  accorded  first  rank  for  efficiency,  endur- 
ance, courage  and  brilliant  deeds. 

The  Fourth  Regiment  arrived  at  Washington,  October  7,  1861,  and 
was  mustered  out  at  Providence,  October  15,  1864.  The  total  number  of 
men  enrolled  was  1035;  killed  and  died  of  wounds,  72;  other  deaths,  65. 
Its  colonels  were  Isaac  P.  Rodman,  who  was  killed  by  a  musket  ball  at 


8i4  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

the  battle  of  Antietam,  and  William  H.  P.  Steere,  who  was  wounded  in 
the  same  fight.  The  services  of  the  Fourth  were  chiefly  in  North  Caro- 
lina under  Gen.  Bumside,  and  in  Virginia  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 
The  battlefields  inscribed  on  the  colors  of  this  fine  organization  were 
Fredericksburg,  Roanoke  Island,  Newbern.  Fort  Macon,  South  Moun- 
tain, Antietam,  SuiTolk,  Weldon  Railroad,  Poplar  Spring  Church,  Hat- 
cher's Run. 

The  Seventh  Regiment,  recruited  mainly  by  the  energetic  services  of 
Welcome  B.  Sayles,  arrived  at  Washington  for  service  September  12, 
1862,  under  the  command  of  Col.  Zenas  R.  Bliss,  an  accomplished  United 
States  army  ofiicer.  This  body  was  joined  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
and  its  first  battle  was  the  ill-fated,  sanguinary  contest  of  Fredericksburg, 
where  the  Seventh  exhibited  the  most  unflinching  bravery,  at  the  cost  of 
31  killed  and  122  wounded.  Lieut. -Col.  Sayles  was  killed  by  a  sliell,  and 
Maj.  Jacob  Babbitt,  of  Bristol,  was  mortally  wounded.  The  regiment  was 
mustered  out  after  the  Grand  Review  at  Washington,  at  Alexandria, 
Virginia,  on  June  9,  1865,  returning  with  350  men  and  20  officers.  Its 
colors  bore  the  names  of  Fredericksburg,  Siege  of  Vicksburg,  Jackson, 
Spottsylvania,  North  Anna,  Cold  Harbor,  Petersburg,  Weldon  Railroad, 
Poplar  Spring  Church,  Hatcher's  Run.  The  story  of  the  Seventh  is  one 
of  gallant  deeds  and  great  achievements  under  able  officers. 

Prior  to  May,  1862,  the  Rhode  Island  National  Guard  had  been  or- 
ganized as  a  reserve  from  which  the  State  and  National  governments 
could  draw,  at  short  notice,  in  any  time  of  special  need.  Such  an  occa- 
sion came  in  May,  1862,  when  the  Confederate  forces  threatened  the 
National  Capital,  when  Gen.  "Stonewall"  Jackson  made  a  sudden  raid 
down  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  routing  the  Army  of  Gen.  Banks  at  Win- 
chester, with  the  possible  intent  of  a  thrust  on  Washington.  Governor 
Sprague  received  an  emergency  call  for  a  volunteer  regiment  for  three 
months  service  at  Washington,  at  midnight  of  May  25,  T862,  and  before 
sunrise  the  call  had  been  satisfied,  and  on  the  27th  the  Ninth  Regiment 
left  Providence  for  the  Capital,  under  command  of  Col.  John  T.  Pitman. 
At  the  same  time,  troops  were  pouring  into  Washington  from  all  the 
States,  the  safety  of  the  Capital  was  assured,  and  the  Ninth,  with  other 
regiments,  crossed  the  Potomac  as  if  to  assist,  as  a  reserve,  to  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac,  then  threatening  an  attack  on  Richmond.  The  plans  of 
Gen.  McCIellan  on  Richmond  were  abandoned,  and  the  Ninth,  after  a 
war  vacation  of  three  months,  returned  to  Providence,  and  officers  and 
men  were  mustered  out  September  2,  1862.  The  Ninth  possessed  the 
fighting  spirit,  but  failed  of  an  opportunity  to  exercise  it. 

The  Tenth  Regiment  was  also  an  emergency  force  for  the  defence 
of  the  Capital.    Its  experiences  and  services  were  similar  and  cotempor- 


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THE  CIVIL  WAR.  815 

aneoiis  with  those  of  the  Ninth,  under  the  commands  of  Cols.  Zcnas  R. 
Bliss  and  James  Shaw,  Jr.  Jacob  Babbitt  was  major;  John  F.  Tobey, 
adjutant;  Jarnes  H.  Armington,  quartermaster;  and  Rev.  A.  H.  Clapp, 
D.  D.,  chaplain.  The  regiment  was  well  qualified  to  fight,  but  did  not 
have  a  fighting  chance.  It  was  mustered  out  at  Providence,  September  i, 
1862. 

The  first  year  of  the  Civil  War  was  heartening  to  the  Confederate 
and  disheartening  to  the  Union  army.  Its  history  had  been  one  of  defeat 
and  checkmate,  and  the  North  had  been  made  aware  of  the  fact  that 
Confederates  could  and  would  put  up  a  great  conflict  in  arms.  What  the 
North  supposed  was  to  be  a  short  war  had  now  proceeded  a  twelve- 
month, with  the  Union  army  defending  the  National  Capital.  But  disap- 
pointment was  not  discouragement,  but  rather  an  incitement  to  more 
vigorous  action,  with  greater  armies  in  the  field,  under  better  generalship. 
The  testing  time  of  officers  and  soldiers  was  on  and  the  determination  to 
win  in  the  finals  for  constitutional  freedom  was  more  strongly  felt  and 
expressed  than  it  had  ever  been.  On  the  4th  of  August,  1862,  President 
Lincoln  issued  a  call  for  300,000  men  to  serve  for  nine  months,  to  which 
Rhode  Island  men  responded  promptly.  This  State  was  called  to  enlist 
two  regiments,  the  Eleventh  and  Twelfth.  The  ranks  of  the  Eleventh 
were  filled  on  the  23rd  of  September,  1862,  it  was  mustered  in  October 
I,  and  arrived  in  Washington  on  the  8th,  under  command  of  Col.  Edwin 
Metcalf.  The  Eleventh  was  assigned  to  Gen.  Cowdin's  brigade  as  a 
guard  to  the  convalescent  camp  near  Washington.  Its  whole  term  was 
occupied  in  guard  and  picket  duty  ,  never  being  called  into  action,  although 
several  times  it  was  in  line  of  battle.  The  regiment  was  one  of 
observation  of  war  rather  than  of  actual  participation  in  active  fighting. 
At  the  expiration  of  its  term  of  enlistment,  the  Eleventh  returned  home 
and  was  mustered  out  at  Providence,  July  13,  1863.  •  Its  colonels  in  com- 
mand were  Edwin  Metcalf,  Horatio  Rogers,  Jr.,  and  George  E.  Church; 
its  lieutenant-colonel,  J.  Talbot  Pitman;  Nathan  F.  Moss,  its  major; 
Robert  Fessenden,  adjutant;  Henry  S.  OIney,  quartermaster;  Thomas 
\\'.  Perry,  surgeon ;  and  John  B.  Gould,  clia])lain. 

The  Twelfth  Rhode  Island,  under  coniand  of  Col.  George  H.  Browne, 
was  appointed  to  severe  trials  at  the  battle  of  Fredericksburg,  December 
12-13,  1863.  The  courage,  fidelity  and  endurance  of  the  men  were  put 
to  the  severest  tests  in  this  terrible  contest  and  the  roll-call  showed  109 
men  killed  and  wounded,  and  95  missing.  The  ordeal  was  severe  but 
Col.  Browne  and  his  men  served  as  veterans,  although  this  battle  was  only 
sixty  days  away  from  quiet  civilian  life  and  duties.  At  one  time  in  this 
battle,  Col.  Browne  was  left  alone  without  the  aid  of  a  single  field  officer. 


8i6  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

When  Gen.  Burnside  was  assigned  to  the  Department  of  the  Ohio, 
he  made  request  that  the  Twelfth  Rhode  Island  should  go  with  him,  as 
it  did,  doing  duty  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  showing  the  same  grit  and 
stamina  as  at  Gettysburg.  Its  term  of  service  expired  in  July  and  was 
mustered  out  on  the  29th  with  800  men  to  answer  roll-call.  The  staflf 
officers  of  the  Twelfth  Rhode  Island  were:  George  H.  Brown,  colonel; 
James  Shaw,  Jr.,  lieutenant-colonel;  Cyrus  G.  Dyer,  major;  John  Turner, 
Oscar  Lapham  and  Matthew  N.  Chappell,  adjutants;  John  L.  Clarke, 
quartermaster ;  Benoni  Carpenter,  surgeon ;  and  Samuel  W.  Field,  chap- 
lain. The  Twelfth  was  entitled  to  the  inscription  of  Fredericksburg  on 
its  colors. 

While  many  thousands  of  Rhode  Island  men  served  their  country 
cheerfully  and  bravely,  due  credit  must  also  be  given  to  the  cavalry  and 
light  and  heavy  artillery  regiments,  which  constituted  an  important  factor 
in  the  land  forces  of  the  nation.  The  two  arms  of  ofifensive  war  were 
constantly  in  service — the  former  in  scout  duty,  in  reconnoissance  and 
in  flank  and  rear  action,  while  the  latter  was  in  the  forefront  of  every 
engagement,  in  effective  and  often  most  hazardous  service. 

The  First  Rhode  Island  Cavalry  was  organized  in  the  autumn  of 
1861,  and  placed  under  Col.  George  W.  Hallett,  who  was  later  made 
chief  of  cavalry  in  Rhode  Island.  On  March  12,  1862,  the  regiment  under 
Maj.  William  San  ford,  entrained  for  Washington  and  was  later  attached 
to  the  Fifth  Army  Corps,  and  its  whole  term  of  service,  until  August, 
1865,  was  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  The  command  was  under  Robert 
B.  Lawton  and  Alfred  N.  Duffie,  colonels;  and  Willard  Sayles  and  John 
A.  Thompson,  lieutenant-colonels.  The  regimental  story  is  a  thrilling 
one,  and  well  illustrates  the  best  of  human  courage,  daring  and  suffering 
in  battle,  in  camp  life  or  in  prisons  of  the  enemy.  In  "Sabres  and  Spurs," 
the  history  of  the  First  Rhode  Island  Cavalry  is  well  told  by  Chaplain 
Frederick  Denison.  Its  operations  extended  from  the  Valley  of  the 
Shenandoah  down  the  Peninsula  to  the  neighborhood  of  Richmond,  its 
final  duty  being  to  parole  the  men  of  Gen.  Lee's  army,  after  his  surrender 
to  Gen.  Grant,  1865. 

The  Second  Regiment  of  Cavalry,  under  Lieut.-Coi.  Augustus  W. 
Corliss,  entered  service  in  January,  1863,  and  took  part  in  the  first  advance 
on  Port  Hudson,  under  General  N.  P.  Banks,  in  March,  1863.  Here 
the  regiment  was  engaged  in  scout  and  forage  duties.  The  regiment  was 
later  engaged  in  several  sharp  fights  in  the  Mississippi  district.  In  Sep- 
tember, an  attempt  was  made  to  subordinate  the  regiment  to  the  First 
Louisiana  Cavalry,  which  was  resisted  by  officers  and  men,  with  the 
result  that  in  Januar}',  1864,  it  was  merged  in  the  Third  Rliode  Island 
Cavalry,  on  the  arrival  of  that  regiment  in  New  Orleans.    After  the  union 


THE  CIVIL  WAR.  817 

of  tlie  two  regiments  under  the  command  of  Col.  Willard  Sayles  and 
Lieut. -Col.  diaries  Parkluirst,  the  Red  River  expedition  was  entered  on, 
and  from  March,  1864,  to  November,  1865,  the  reconstructed  Third  was 
occui)ied  in  the  service  of  the  Department  of  the  Gulf,  much  of  the  time 
in  guerilla  and  picket  skirmishes,  with  no  important  engagement — a  most 
trying  and  perplexing  work  for  a  brave  soldier  fitted  for  strenuous  and 
open  warfare.  The  regimental  historian  states  truly:  "It  was  not  a  field 
or  service  attractive  to  men  ambitious  of  military  glory,  but  was  none 
the  less  important  as  a  feature  of  the  great  plan  of  subduing  the  rebel- 
lion ;  and  the  part  taken  therein  by  the  Third  Rhode  Island  Cavalry  has 
given  it  a  record  honorable  to  itself  and  to  the  State  it  represented." 

The  Third  Regiment  Rhode  Island  Heavy  Artillery  entered  its  dis- 
tinguished career  in  August,  1861,  and  continued  in  service  until  mus- 
tered out  in  August,  1865 — nearly  the  whole  period  of  the  war.  Its  suc- 
cessive colonels  were  Nathaniel  \V.  Brown.  Edwin  Mctcalf.  and  Charles 
R.  Brayton.  Christopher  Blanding,  Henry  T.  Sisson,  Horatio  Rogers, 
Jr.,  and  William  Ames  were  majors  for  various  periods;  Ames  was  pro- 
moted to  lieutenant-colonel.  The  several  companies  of  this  regiinent  were 
scattered  over  many  States,  and  served  as  light  or  heavy  artillery  or  upon 
armed  transports,  as  circumstances  demanded.  The  principal  field  of  its 
service  was  in  the  Department  of  the  South,  under  the  command  suc- 
cessively of  Gens.  Thomas  W.  Sherman,  David  Hunter,  Ormsby  M. 
Mitchell,  Quincy  A.  Gilmore  and  John  F.  Foster,  against  Gens.  Lee,  Pem- 
berton  and  Beauregard  of  the  Confederates.  Number  of  men  enrolled 
1723,  number  reenlisted  men  300,  total  2023;  number  killed  39.  died  of 
wounds  17,  died  of  diseases  ",  total  133  ;  number  wounded  80.  discharged 
for  disability  269. 

By  orders  of  Gen.  Grant  the  names  of  the  following  sieges  and  battles 
in  which  the  regiment  was  engaged  were:  Fort  Pulaski,  Secessionville, 
Pocotaligo,  Morris  Island.  Fort  Sumter,  Fort  Wagner,  Olustee,  Drewry's 
Bluffs,  Laurel  Hill,  Honey  Hill,  Deveaux  Neck,  Fort  Burnham,  Peters- 
burg. 

The  Fifth  Regiment  Heavy  Artillerj-,  under  command  of  Col.  Henry 
T.  Sisson,  achieved  equal  honors  for  valorous  action  as  did  the  Third. 
Its  term  of  service  began  January,  1862,  and  it  was  mustered  out  at  New 
Berne,  North  Carolina,  June  26,  1865.  The  whole  period  was  spent  in 
North  Carolina,  and  it  participated  in  the  following  principal  engage- 
ments: Roanoke  Island,  New  Berne,  Fort  Macon  (^ siege),  Pawle's  Mill, 
New  Berne,  Kinston,  Whitehall,  Goldsboro,  Little  Washington  (siege), 
New  Berne  (siege). 

The  Fourteenth  Regiment  of  Heavy  Artillery  was  made  up  of 
negroes,  with  white  officers.    Governor  James  Y.  Smith  heartily  favored 

R  I-5I 


8i8  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

the  plan  of  such  an  organization.  The  enlistments  were  so  prompt  that, 
from  the  original  plan  of  a  single  company,  a  whole  regiment  came  into 
being.  Col.  Nelson  Viall  prepared  the  regiment  for  the  field,  and  was 
not  only  a  capable  officer  but  had  faith  that  a  negro  would  make  an 
efficient  soldier.  Col.  Viall  was  an  enthusiastic  worker  and  under  his 
instruction  and  inspiration  the  men  made  rapid  progress  in  military  evolu- 
tions. The  first  battalion  of  four  companies  left  Providence  on  December 
19,  1863,  and  made  camp  at  Matagorda  Island,  Texas,  January  8,  1864. 
Maj.-Gen.  Dana,  commander  of  the  Union  forces  in  Texas,  visited  the 
negro  battalion  to  find  a  body  of  men  of  "soldier-like  conduct,  excel- 
lent in  condition  and  bearing."  He  reported  that  "such  discipline  and 
order  reflect  great  credit"  on  officers  and  men.  The  stafif  officers  were: 
Jacob  H.  Sypher,  colonel;  Nelson  Viall,  lieutenant-colonel;  Joseph  J. 
Comstock,  major;  Joseph  C.  Whitney,  Jr.,  adjutant;  John  B.  Pierce, 
quartermaster ;  and  Benoni  Carpenter,  surgeon.  Among  the  captains  were 
Joshua  M.  Addeman.  Phannel  E.  Bisho]3,  George  Bucklin  and  H.  K. 
Southwick.  This  regiment  was  called  largely  to  garrison  duty  in  the 
South.  In  February,  1865,  the  Fourteenth  numbered  1452.  Up  to  that 
date  300  had  died.  As  the  regiment  was  not  called  into  action,  its  losses 
were  only  by  disease.  Their  record  as  faithful  men  and  good  soldiers 
was  well  established  among  militarj'  men,  high  in  command,  honoring 
their  State  during  their  two  years  of  service,  thereby  paying  just  tribute 
to  Governor  Smith,  who  had  called  them  into  patriotic  service. 

In  addition  to  the  forces  already  named,  Rhode  Island  manned  and 
equipped  the  First  Regiment  of  Light  Artillery,  of  which  Battery  A  was 
mustered  in  June  6,  1861,  which,  under  command  of  Capt.  William  H. 
Reynolds,  opened  the  attack  on  the  Confederates  at  the  battle  of  Bull 
Run,  July  21,  1861.  The  battery  lost  all  its  gims  but  one,  and  had  two 
men  killed  and  fourteen  wounded.  In  August,  1861,  Batteries  A,  B  and 
C  were  formed  into  a  battalion  under  command  of  Maj.  Charles  H. 
Tompkins,  and  in  September  this  organization  took  regimental  form  under 
Col.  Tompkins.  In  the  three  years  of  service  of  this  organization,  it  saw 
active  warfare  at  Bolivar  Heights,  the  Peninsula,  Antietam,  Fredericks- 
burg, Marye's  Heights,  Gettysburg,  Bristoe,  Station,  Mine  Run,  Morton's 
Ford,  the  Wilderness,  Spottsylvania  Court  House,  North  Anna  and 
Petersburg. 

Battery  B,  Rhode  Island  Artillery,  140  officers  and  men,  left  Provi- 
dence, August  14,  1861,  and,  at  Washington,  was  assigned  to  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac.  This  battery  won  great  distinction  in  its  four  years  of 
service  from  Ball's  BlufT  in  1861  to  the  surrender  of  Gen.  Robert  E.  Lee, 
in  April,  1865.  Gen.  Meade  ordered  the  names  of  nineteen^  battlefields 
inscribed  on  its  colors,  among  them  being  Malvern  Hill,  Antietam,  Fred- 


THE  CIVIL  WAR.  819 

ericksburg,  Gettysburg,  the  Wiklerncss,  Xorth  Anna  and  Petersburg.  At 
Gettysburg,  Battery  B,  now  including  Battery  A,  the  casualties  were  seven 
men  killed,  three  officers  and  32  men  wounded,  65  horses  killed  or 
wounded,  and  all  its  gxms  rendered  useless  by  rapid  fire.  One  gim,  with 
a  ball  in  its  muzzle,  disabled  at  Gettysburg,  is  now  in  the  State  Capitol, 
at  Providence. 

Battery  C  fought  in  the  greatest  battles  in  which  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  was  engaged  from  Yorlctown  to  Cedar  Creek,  and  its  losses  [n 
men  and  horses  were  large.  Gen.  Meade  testified  to  its  valiant  and  meri- 
torious conduct  by  ordering  the  names  of  eighteen  battles  inscribed  on  its 
colors.  Battery  C  was  in  the  engagement  which  has  been  immortaUzed  in 
Sheridan's  Famous  Ride. 

The  other  batteries  from  Rhode  Island  mustered  in  in  1861  and 
1862,  named  respectively  D,  E,  F,  G  and  H,  were  in  active  service  almost 
constantly  in  connection  with  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  suffered  or 
enjoyed  the  varying  vicissitudes  of  defeat  or  victory  that  came  to  the 
corps  in  which  it  served. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  Rhode  Islancl  men  in  artillery  and 
cavalry  service  were  standards  of  military  efficiency  in  the  Union  army. 
These  branches  of  service  attracted  the  choicest  of  our  yeomanry.  Many 
of  the  officers  and  men  had  been  members  of  militia  companies  where 
discipline  and  a  fair  knowledge  of  the  manual  of  arms  and  military 
tactics  were  the  personal  qualifications  of  all  the  men  in  the  ranks.  Ac- 
quaintance and  comradeship  were  valuable  assets  in  battery,  battalion  and 
regimental  organization.  Solidarity  of  camp  life,  as  well  as  unanimity 
in  action,  came  from  mutual  goodfellowship.  Soldier  and  officer  were  at 
one  in  the  tent,  the  mess,  and  on  the  field  of  action.  Our  little  State 
really  made  herself  great,  and  won  special  renown  on  account  of  a  mili- 
tary brotherhood,  led  by  their  own  chosen  and  I)eloved  leaders.  Maj.- 
Gen.  Ambrose  E.  Burnside  was  the  military  idol  of  all  Rhode  Island 
soldiers.  In  defeat  or  in  victory,  all  worshipped  him  as  an  honest,  brave 
and  true  leader,  whom  they  could  always  trust.  It  was  Gen.  Burnside 
who  set  the  standard  for  the  Rhode  Island  soldier,  in  all  departments  of 
the  service.  Governor  William  Sprague  was  also  an  idol  of  the  Rhode 
Island  soldier  boys,  in  the  camp  or  on  the  field.  His  youth,  patriotism, 
generosity  and  bravery  amounting  to  daring,  conspired  to  elevate  Governor 
Sprague  to  the  zenith  of  personal  and  popular  favor.  Rhode  Island  men 
saw  in  their  Governor  a  Richard  Coeur  de  Leon  in  chivalry,  a  young 
Napoleon  in  war  and  in  finance.  The  Governor  honestly  confessed  that 
he  was  "scared"  in  the  Bull  Run  fight,  and  he  thought  all  the  rest  of  the 
troops  were,  but  he  did  his  best  to  act  the  part  of  a  brave  man,  and  suc- 
ceeded so  well  that  he  won  the  reputation  of  an  absolutely  fearless  leader 


820  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

— a  kind  of  man  that  even  cowards  admire.  Rev.  Augustus  Woodbury, 
chaplain,  soldier,  historian,  was  another  of  Rhode  Island's  worthies  whom 
all  the  men  of  the  State  loved,  honored,  worshipped.  "The  King  can  do 
no  wrong" — neither  could  Chaplain  Woodbury.  These  three  men,  though 
localized  in  personal  work,  were  generalized  before  and  by  all  branches 
of  Rhode  Island  soldiers.  They  were  the  standard  bearers  to  whom, 
directly  or  indirectly,  the  infantry,  cavalry  and  artillery  were  responsive, 
and  who  wrought  a  martial  idealism  in  the  mind  and  heart  of  most  of 
the  State's  Union  soldiery — a  condition  non-existant  in  any  other  body 
of  troops  from  any  otlier  State  or  section.  The  staff  officers  of  the  regi- 
ments were,  as  a  rule,  men  whose  appointments  were  won  on  personal 
merit.  Real  military  efficiency  is  not  measured  by  money  values,  and  the 
commands  were  worthy  of  the  confidence  reposed  in  them.  It  seems 
almost  invidious  to  select  a  few  names  from  many  as  illustrative  of  the 
fine  quality  of  manhood  of  the  officers  of  Rhode  Island  soldiers  and  sail- 
ers in  the  Civil  War, — successors  of  Greene  and  Varnum  and  Barton,  in 
land  service,  and  of  Hopkins  and  Perry  on  the  sea,  but  a  few  names 
warrant  such  reference. 

Our  two  Governors  in  the  Civil  War  were  William  Sprague  and 
James  Y.  Smith,  men  of  the  sturdiest  character  and  most  unquestionable 
patriotism.  The  lieutenant-governors  were  of  the  same  type  of  citizen- 
ship in  Samuel  G.  Arnold  and  Seth  Padelford.  Our  Senators  in  the 
United  States  Congress  were  James  Y.  Simmons,  William  Sprague  and 
Henry  B.  Anthony,  while  our  Representatives  were  William  P.  Sheffield, 
George  H.  Browne,  Thomas  A.  Jenckes  and  Nathan  F.  Dixon — true 
patriots  all. 

While  the  regimental  histories  and  biographies  will  preserve  and  per- 
petuate the  names  and  worthy  deeds  of  most  of  the  chief  actors  of  the 
Rhode  Island  groups,  our  review  in  general  must  note  the  names  of  Col. 
Ambrose  E.  Burnside,  who  rapidly  rose  by  real  merit  to  the  rank  of 
major-general;  Governors  William  Sprague  and  James  Y.  Smith;  Col. 
Joseph  S.  Pitman,  Col.  John  S.  Slocum,  Col.  Henry  T.  Sisson,  Chaplain 
Augustus  Woodbury,  Col.  Frank  Wheaton,  Col.  Nelson  Viall,  Col.  Hor- 
atio Rogers,  Jr.,  Col.  Elisha  H.  Rhodes,  Maj.  Sullivan  Ballou,  Gen. 
Nathan  Goff,  Jr.,  Lieut.-Col.  Henry  H.  Yoimg,  Brig.-Gen.  W.  H.  P. 
Steere,  Maj.  Thorndike  C.  Jameson,  Surgeon  F.  L.  Wheaton,  Gen.  Isaac 
P.  Rodman,  Capt.  Levi  Tower,  Brig.-Gen.  Frank  Wheaton,  Lieut.-Col. 
George  W.  Tew,  Col.  Zenas  R.  Bliss,  Col.  W.  B.  Sayles,  Col.  George  E. 
Church,  Maj.  Jacob  Babbitt,  Adj.  Charles  H.  Page,  Col.  John  T.  Pitman, 
Lieut.-Col.  John  Hare  Powell,  Maj.  George  Lewis  Cooke,  Col.  James 
Shaw,  Jr.,  Capt.  Walter  A.  Read,  Adj.  John  F.  Tobey,  Chaplain,  Rev.  A. 
Huntington  Clapp,  Capt.  George  N.  Bliss,  Capt.  Charles  H.  Parkhurst, 


THE  CIVIL  WAR.  821 

Capt.  Joseph  IT.  Kendrick,  Capt.  William  A.  Mowry,  Capt.  Samuel  Thur- 
bcr.  Capt.  James  T.  Edwards,  Col.  George  H.  Browne,  Adjt.  Oscar  Lapham, 
Surgeon  P.enoni  Carpenter,  Cha(3lain  Samuel  W.  Field,  Col.  Cliri.stopher 
Blanding,  Capt.  George  F.  Bicknell,  Capt.  Joshua  M.  Addeman,  Erig.- 
Gen.  Joseph  P.  Balch,  Bvt.-Col.  Martin  P.  Buffum,  Bvt.-Lieut.-Col.  Wil- 
liam Goddard,  Col.  S.  B.  M.  Read,  Corp.  Thomas  Parker,  Capt.  James  S. 
Smith,  Lieut.  Henry  A.  Prescott,  Lieut.  Robert  H.  Ives,  Jr.,  Col.  Willard 
Sayles,  Maj.  Raymond  H.  Perry,  Col.  Willard  Sayles,  Col.  Edwin  Met- 
calf,  Gen.  Charles  R.  Brayton,  Bvt.-Brig.-Gen.  William  Ames,  Capt. 
George  L.  Smith,  Lieut.-Col.  Job  Arnold,  Bvt.-Maj.-Gen.  Richard  Arnold, 
Bvt.-Maj.-Gen.  Silas  Casey,  Bvt.-Maj.-Gen.  Thomas  W.  Sherman,  Maj.- 
Gen.  David  H.  Vinton,  Col.  U.  S.  A.  William  H.  Walcott,  Brig.-Gen. 
Robert  C.  Wood,  Lieut.-Col.  Benj.  F.  Bucklin,  Capt.  Oiarles  W.  Abbott, 
Rear  Admiral  John  J.  Almy,  Asst.  Engineer  Robert  H.  Thurston,  Lieut.- 
Com.  Benjamin  F.  Tillcy,  Commodore  \\'illiam  R.  Taylor,  Lieut.  Ezra 
K.  Parker,  Lieut.  Daniel  R.  Ballon. 

The  Adjutant  General's  Report,  in  two  quarto  volumes,  published  in 
1895,  gives  the  roster  of  the  regiments,  batteries,  negro  troops,  and  enlisted 
men  in  the  United  States  Army  and  Navy  in  the  Civil  War.  This  report 
gives  the  name,  date  of  enrollment,  dates  of  mustering  in  and  mustering 
out,  promotions,  transfers,  of  all  soldiers  and  sailors  from  Rhode  Island 
in  the  Civil  War.  Totals  are  not  given  and  no  record  as  to  nationality, 
birth  or  birth-place  of  any  of  the  whole  number.  In  most  cases  the  Rliode 
Island  residence  is  noted.  From  these  data  it  is  absolutely  impossible  to 
determine  how  many  men  Rhode  Island  contributed  to  the  War.  It  can 
be  safely  stated  that  the  State  furnished  the  full  quota  of  men  and  supplies 
that  she  was  called  to  render.  The  population  of  Rhode  Island,  in  i860, 
was  174,620,  and  the  State  was  credited  with  furnishing  23,699  men  in 
the  Union  Army  and  Navy,  though  the  number  that  were  of  the  State's 
people  is  unknown,  since  many  enlistments  in  Rhode  Island  came  from 
other  States.  Under  the  eight  calls  of  President  Lincoln  for  militia,  the 
quota  was  18,898.  The  aggregate  reduced  to  a  three  years'  standard  was 
17,866 — a  total  of  one-tenth  of  the  total  population  of  the  State. 

At  the  close  of  the  Civil  War,  the  surviving  men  returned  to  resume 
the  various  duties  of  citizens,  as  opportunities  opened  to  them.  They  were 
welcomed  as  they  deserved  by  a  grateful  commonwealth  and  on  them 
civil  and  military  honors  were  bestowed  lavishly.  Gen.  Burnside  was 
elected  to  the  United  States  Senate,  January  26,  1875,  and  on  June  8, 
1880,  was  reelected  by  a  vote  of  79  to  30  scattering.  Gen.  Qiarles  R. 
Brayton  was  postmaster  of  Providence  from  1874  to  1879.  The  lucrative 
offices  of  the  State  and  towns  passed  by  natural  gravitation  of  public 
sentiment  to  the  men  who  had  saved  the  Nation,  and  the  wisdom  of  these 


822  HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 

acts  was  proved  by  the  value  of  the  services  rendered.  The  defenders  of 
a  State  could  be  trusted  with  the  honors  and  emoluments,  consequent  on 
their  fidelity  to  a  great  trust. 

On  September  i6,  1871,  the  State  dedicated  at  Providence  a  monu- 
ment to  the  soldiers  and  sailors  of  Rhode  Island  in  the  Civil  War.  On 
June  10,  1886,  the  town  of  South  Kingstown  dedicated  a  soldiers'  and 
sailors'  monument.  On  July  4,  I'BSj,  an  equestrian  statue  was  dedicated 
to  commemorate  the  services  of  Gen.  Ambrose  E.  Burnside.  On  May  30, 
1888,  a  soldiers'  and  sailors'  monument  was  dedicated  at  Central  Falls. 
On  May  14,  1891,  the  Rhode  Island  Soldiers'  Home  was  opened  at  Bristol, 
Rhode  Island,  and  was  dedicated  May  21.  On  September  30,  1899,  a 
soldiers'  and  sailors'  monument  was  dedicated  in  St.  Francis  Cemetery, 
Pawtucket.  On  April  30,  1903,  a  monument  was  dedicated  at  Anderson- 
ville,  Georgia,  in  commemoration  of  the  endurance  of  Rhode  Island  sol- 
diers who  suffered  cruel  imprisonment.  On  October  7.  1903,  Battle  Flag 
Day  was  celebrated,  when  the  flags  and  colors  were  removed  from  the 
old  to  the  new  State  House.  On  November  11,  1908.  a  monument  was 
dedicated  at  Vicksburg  National  Military  Park,  Vicksburg,  Mississippi, 
in  honor  of  Rhode  Island  soldiers,  who  participated  in  the  siege  of  Vicks- 
burg, which  surrendered  July  4,  1863.  On  October  6,  1909,  a  monument 
was  dedicated  at  New  Berne,  North  Carolina,  in  commemoration  of  the 
Rhode  Island  soldiers  and  sailors  who  lost  their  lives  in  the  campaigns 
in  that  State.  A  statue  of  Col.  Henry  H.  Young  has  been  erected  on  a 
massive  boulder  in  the  Park,  in  front  df  the  Union  Railroad  Station, 
Providence.  A  statue  of  Col.  Henry  T.  Sisson  was  also  erected  in  Little 
Compton,  Rhode  Island,  in  191 7. 

At  the  close  of  the  war,  the  financial  records  of  the  towns  and  the 
State  Vv-ere  footed  and  it  was  found  that  the  thirty-three  towns  had  ex- 
pended a  sum  total  of  $1,622,288.96;  that  the  State  had  repaid  to  the 
towns  $465,690.00,  making  the  net  expenditures  of  the  towns  $1,156,- 
598.96.  Providence  had  expended  $429,696.60,  the  largest,  and  James- 
town $788.50,  the  least. 

The  State  of  Rhode  Island  expended  $5,344,173.19.  The  aggregate 
of  State,  cities  and  towns  was  $6,500,772.15. 

It  was  generally  feared  that  the  experiences  and  influences  of  army 
life  would  have  a  demoralizing  efifect  on  the  men  who  should  return  and 
that  the  characters,  as  subjected  to  camp  and  field  duties,  would  be  low- 
ered far  below  normal  standards  of  civilian  life.  In  order  to  ascertain 
the  quality  of  the  citizenship  of  the  returned  soldiers  a  circular  letter  of 
inquiry  was  prepared  by  the  Adjutant  General  of  the  State  and  sent  to 
the  mayors  of  the  cities  and  the  presidents  of  town  councils  of  the  towns, 
soliciting  their  opinions  relative  to  the  general  character  of  the  soldier- 


BRONZE  FIGURE  OF  RHODE  ISLAND  BOY  SCOUT 


THE  CIVIL  WAR.  823 

citizens  as  compared  to.  their  cliaracter  prior  to  enlistment  in  their 
country's  service.  Twenty-nine  cities  and  towns  replied.  Burrillville, 
Cumberland  reported  that  anny  life  had  been  demoralizing  to  the  men  as 
a  whole.  Harrington,  Coventry,  Cranston,  Charlestown,  East  Greenwich, 
East  Providence,  Jamestown.  Little  Compton,  Middletown,  North  Provi- 
dence, New  Shoreham,  Richmond,  Smithfield  and  Warwick  replied  that 
the  men  were  as  good  as  when  they  went  away — no  better,  no  worse,  ex- 
cept in  a  few  individuals  both  worse  and  better. 

Bristol,  Glocester,  Newport,  North  Kingstown,  Providence,  Paw- 
tucket,  Portsmouth,  Scituate,  Tiverton,  Warren,  Westerly  and  West 
Greenwich  replied  that  the  general  standard  of  morals  and  of  citizenship 
had  been  improved  by  army  service.  While  these  reports  are  not  expert 
evidence  they  tend  towards  the  conclusion  that  habits  formed  in  youth 
are  sheet  anchors  of  character  in  early  manhood,  even  amidst  the  demor- 
alizing influence  of  war.  The  idealism  of  a  conflict  for  freeing  a  race  of 
slaves  and  for  preserving  the  constitution  and  union  of  the  Federated 
States  was  the  splendid  goal  of  a  generation  of  freemen,  whose  lives  were 
consecrated  to  a  true  Democracy  of  states  and  citizens. 


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